ratchet
n. countablen. a tool that allows a wheel or bar to move in only one direction. It is often used in car repairs or building things because it lets you turn a bolt without lifting the tool off.
n. a mechanism consisting of a pawl that engages with the sloping teeth of a wheel or bar, permitting motion in one direction only. Often used to describe processes that are difficult to reverse once they have started.
He used a ratchet to tighten the bolts on the bike.
The mechanic reached for a socket wrench with a fine-tooth ratchet to work in the cramped engine bay.
Economists often describe the 'ratchet effect' in government spending, where outlays increase during crises but rarely return to previous levels once the emergency has passed.
From French rochet (“bobbin, spindle, ratchet”), from Italian rocchetto (“spool, ratchet”).
Possibly a variant (representing a Southern or specifically Louisianan pronunciation) of wretched. Compare rasslin' for wrestling.
Commonly used as a noun for the tool, but also frequently appears as a verb ('to ratchet up') meaning to increase something incrementally.