Ratline

Quick meaning: Ratline is a noun meaning (nautical, uncountable) The rope or similar material used to make cross-ropes on a ship.

Meaning

(nautical, uncountable) The rope or similar material used to make cross-ropes on a ship.

More Meanings

1. (nautical) Any of the cross ropes between the shrouds, which form a net-like ropework, allowing sailors to climb up towards the top of the mast.
2. (historical, often in the plural) A system of escape routes for Nazis and other fascists fleeing Europe in the aftermath of World War II.

Example Sentences

Marc Masurovsky, of the European Shoah Legacy Institute, has a remarkable knowledge of the Nazi ratlines and Allied intelligence.

That meant it was not possible to use ratlines — that is, to make rope ladders out of the shrouds by adding small connecting pieces of ropes.

[H]e laid hold of the first ratline with his right hand, then sprung to the second, with his left, and so on alternately, right and left, up to the last, close to the futtock shrouds.

Word Forms

• ratlines
• ratlin
• rattlin
• rattline

Synonyms for ratline

Depending on context, synonyms include ratlin.

Related Words

Related dictionary entries include ratlin, rattline, rattlin, rattling, ropeline, rode.

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