Dead Rat in dreams
Betrayal — or the bare survival instinct in a place that has stopped being safe.
How dead changes the reading
The base reading of Rat
A rat in a dream is the dictionary's image of betrayal or bare survival, depending on which side of the symbol the dream gives you.
A rat hiding in your house is the dictionary's image of a betrayal in your inner circle that you have not yet identified. A rat in a sinking ship is the older, more honest version of the symbol — the dream noting that the situation around you is no longer safe and even unsavory creatures are leaving.
Where you often see it. A rat in a basement. A rat in a corner of a usually-clean room. The dream uses the rat for betrayal — or the bare survival instinct in a place that has stopped being safe.
What it is not. A rat is not always negative. The dictionary often reads it as the dreamer's survival in degraded conditions.
Related in the dictionary. Read rat with mouse (its softer cousin), basement, and any scene where what was safe has become unsafe.