1
- a device consisting of a bar or wheel with a set of angled teeth in which a pawl, cog, or tooth engages, allowing motion in one direction only棘轮机构。
1.1
- a bar or wheel which has such a set of teeth棘齿。
1.2
- figurative a situation or process that is perceived to be deteriorating or changing steadily in a series of irreversible steps〈喻〉倒退的情形（或过程）：
yet another turn in the ratchet of state control over local experimentation.
国家对地方实验进行的又一轮倒退性控制。
(ratcheted, ratcheting)with obj.
1- operate by means of a ratchet棘轮驱动。
1.1
ratchet something up/down
figurative cause something to rise (or fall) as a step in what is perceived as a steady and irreversible process〈喻〉使逐步升高（或降低）：the Bank of Japan ratcheted up interest rates again.
日本银行又在逐渐提高利率。
1.2
- no obj. make a sound like a ratchet发出棘轮声。
词源
mid 17th cent.: from French rochet, originally denoting a blunt lance head, later in the sense 'bobbin, ratchet'; related to the base of archaic rock 'quantity of wool on a distaff for spinning'.