winter rat

English

Etymology

Believed to have originated in or around Syracuse, New York.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Noun

winter rat (plural winter rats)

1. (idiomatic, colloquial, US) An old, unattractive automobile, purchased for little money, to be driven during brutal Great Lakes winters while the owner's "good" car remains garaged and protected from corrosive road salt for the season.

Synonyms

• beater
• clunker
• junker
• jalopy

References

• Winter Rat, in New Dictionary of American Slang, by Robert L. Chapman, Harold Wentworth, 1996, Harper & Row.