ANSWERS: 1
  • To increase the amount or intensity of something just a little. (A ratchet mechanism makes physical things change by small steps rather than smoothly and continuously.) Absolutely. The other main feature of a ratchet is that it is a mechanism based in its most simple form around a rotating toothed cog with one-way tooth (called apparently a pawl) preventing any backwards motion or slippage - it's the teeth in the cog that give rise to the "notch or two" part of the expression. Therefore any intensity or tension added by using a ratchet will not be released - you'd typically use a ratchet mechanism to tighten a long cable or wire. It's this idea of increasing the pressure or tension in a situation that is at the heart of the idiom. http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/21/messages/504.html

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