Definition of "ratline" []

• Any of the small ropes fastened horizontally to the shrouds of a ship and forming a ladder for going aloft. (noun)
• The material used for these ropes. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Do you have any reason for thinking any kind of ratline is necessary for former commie criminals to get into the US?"
• "With this in mind, will the Syrian "ratline" become largely exterminated?"
• "A sailor, in the main rigging, carried away a ratline in both hands, fell head-downward, and was clutched by an ankle and saved head-downward by a comrade, as the schooner cracked and shuddered, uplifted on the port side, and was flung down on her starboard side till the ocean poured level over her rail."