Definitions

1. noun

A rod or bar used in a rifle or musket to force the rammer (a rod used to push the charge down the barrel) home.

“The soldier carefully inserted the ramrod into the rifle’s barrel before loading it with gunpowder.”

2. noun

A straight and stiff person; a self-righteous person.

“He was seen as a bit of a ramrod at the office, always lecturing others on what they should and shouldn’t do.”

3. verb

To make something rigid and stiff, or to make someone behave in a stiff or self-righteous manner.

“The cold weather ramrodded the branches of the trees, making them brittle and prone to breaking.”