Why ratsnest is called so?

Question

In my favorite CAD, Eagle, there is a function called "ratsnest", which removes all multisegment airwires and replaces them with one straight airwire.

According to wiki of some other CAD,

A multitude of airwires are called ratsnest.

But why is this feature/object has such a weird name? I was not able to find any reference to its history. (It is also possible that it is a well-known construct which I cannot recognize due to my non-English background. If so, can you point me to any dictionary?)

Could just as well be on [English.SE](http://english.stackexchange.com/). — Nick T, Mar 01 '11 at 18:25

score 15 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 01 '11 at 07:57

15

Here's what a real ratsnest looks like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/masneyb/2087687407/

"Rat's nest" is an English idiom meaning "a place of great clutter or disorder. "

answered Mar 01 '11 at 07:57

markrages

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Cool. I didn't knew that rats make nests. – Catherine Mar 03 '11 at 15:17

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 01 '11 at 09:24

1

it also looks a lot like the bunch of straw a rat might use to build a nest

answered Mar 01 '11 at 09:24

Taniwha

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Why ratsnest is called so?

2 Answers2