(n.) A ratchet wheel, or notched bar, with which a pawl or click works.
Example Sentences:
(1) The only thing Michael Fabricant could reasonably be vice-chairman of is the steering committee of Nurse Ratched 's ward fete.
(2) At which point Nurse Ratched [Bailey named her after the character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ] runs along the corridor and is over my mother going: 'Bella you weren't dropped, were you?