rattle
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Middle English [Term?], from Old English hratele, ultimately imitative. The noun (c. 1500) is from the verb.
Verb edit
rattle (third-person singular simple present rattles, present participle rattling, simple past and past participle rattled)
- (transitive, ergative) To create a rattling sound by shaking or striking.
- to rattle a chain
- Rattle the can of cat treats if you need to find Fluffy.
- 2011 February 5, Michael Kevin Darling, “Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton”, in BBC[1]:
- It was a deflating end to the drama for the hosts and they appeared ruffled, with Bolton going close to a leveller when Johan Elmander rattled the bar with a header from Matt Taylor’s cross.
- (transitive, figurative, informal) To scare, startle, unsettle, or unnerve.
- 1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “(please specify the page)”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1979, →ISBN:
- “Tut!” said old Bittlesham. “Tut is right”, I agreed. Then the rumminess of the thing struck me. “But if you haven’t dropped a parcel over the race,” I said, “why are you looking so rattled?”
- 2014 August 26, Richard Rae, “Manchester United humbled by MK Dons after Will Grigg hits double”, in The Guardian:
- That United were rattled, mentally as well as at times physically – legitimately so – was beyond question. Nick Powell clipped a crisp drive a foot over the bar, but otherwise Milton Keynes had the best of the remainder of the first half.
- 2023 February 17, Erika Solomon, Christopher F. Schuetze, Julian E. Barnes, “A Russian Mole in Germany Sows Suspicions at Home, and Beyond”, in The New York Times[2], →ISSN:
- The German authorities are still trying to determine what damage their mole may have done. But the discovery of a double agent has rattled German political circles.
- (intransitive) To make a rattling noise; to make noise by or from shaking.
- I wish the dashboard in my car would quit rattling.
- (transitive, obsolete) To assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise.
- c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:
- Sound but another [drum], and another shall / As loud as thine rattle the welkin’s ear.
- (transitive, obsolete) To scold; to rail at.
- 1692, Roger L’Estrange, “ (please specify the fable number.) (please specify the name of the fable.)”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC:
- This came to the Bishop's Ear, who presently sent for the Curate, Rattled him to some Tune, with Menaces to the Highest Degree
- To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering.
- We rattled along for a couple of miles.
- To make a clatter with one's voice; to talk rapidly and idly; often with on or away.
- She rattled on for an hour.
- (UK, slang) To experience withdrawal from drugs.
Derived terms edit
- death rattle; death-rattle
- rattle about
- rattle around
- rattle a saber
- rattle a sabre
- rattle can
- rattle-free
- rattle off
- rattle one's hocks
- rattle one's saber
- rattle one's sabre
- rattler
- rattle sabres
- rattlesnake
- rattle someone's cage
- rattle someone's cage
- rattle someone's chain
- rattle the bones
- rattle the saber
- rattle the sabre
- rattle through
- rattletrap, rattle trap
- saber-rattle
- saber rattle
- sabre-rattle
- sabre rattle
- sabre-rattling
Translations edit
to create a sound by shaking
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to scare, startle, unsettle, or unnerve
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to make a rattling noise
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to make a rattling noise in the chest whilst breathing
to assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise
to scold; to rail at
to make a clatter with a voice; to talk rapidly and idly
- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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See also edit
Noun edit
rattle (countable and uncountable, plural rattles)
- Object that rattles.
- Any of various plants of the genera Rhinanthus and Pedicularis, whose seeds produce a rattling noise in the wind. [from 10th c.]
- A baby’s toy designed to make sound when shaken, usually containing loose grains or pellets in a hollow container. [from 16th c.]
- 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
- Pleas'd with a rattle, tickled with a straw.
- (music) A musical instrument that makes a rattling sound. [from 17th c.]
- 1614, Walter Ralegh [i.e., Walter Raleigh], The Historie of the World […], London: […] William Stansby for Walter Burre, […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=1 to 5):
- The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other.
- (zoology) The set of rings at the end of a rattlesnake's tail which produce a rattling sound. [from 17th c.]
- The rattle of the rattlesnake is composed of the hardened terminal scales, loosened in succession, but not cast off, and modified in form so as to make a series of loose, hollow joints.
- Rattling sound.
- (onomatopoeia) A rapid succession of percussive sounds, as made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another. [from 16th c.]
- I wish they would fix the rattle under my dashboard.
- 1902, Arthur M. Winfield, The Rover Boys in the Mountains, Chapter 4:
- The rattle of a drum.
- (now rare) Noisy, rapid talk; babble. [from 17th c.]
- 1627, G[eorge] H[akewill], An Apologie of the Power and Prouidence of God in the Gouernment of the World. […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Iohn Lichfield and William Turner, […], →OCLC:
- All this adoe about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceipt.
- (uncountable, now rare) Trivial chatter; gossip. [from 17th c.]
- 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, III.v.5:
- “And pray where, Lady Honoria,” cried Mrs. Delvile, “do you contrive to pick up all this rattle?”
- A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer. [from 17th c.]
- c. 1794, Jane Austen, Lady Susan:
- ‘Sir James is a young Man of an amiable disposition, and excellent character;—a little too much of the Rattle perhaps, but a year or two will rectify that […] .’
- 1856 February, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Oliver Goldsmith”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:
- It may seem strange that a man who wrote with so much perspicuity, vivacity, and grace, should have been, whenever he took a part in conversation, an empty, noisy, blundering rattle.
- (obsolete) A scolding; a sharp rebuke. [17th–19th c.]
- A rough noise produced in the throat by air passing through obstructed airways; croup; a death rattle. [from 18th c.]
- (onomatopoeia) A rapid succession of percussive sounds, as made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another. [from 16th c.]
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
sound
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baby’s toy
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a device that makes a rattling noise
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musical instrument
noisy, rapid talk
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noisy, senseless talker
scolding, sharp rebuke
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zoology: organ that produces a rattling sound
sound made in the throat whilst breathing when mucus is not fully cleared
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death rattle — see death rattle
Etymology 2 edit
From Arabic رَطْل (raṭl), variant of classical رِطْل (riṭl), ultimately from Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra). Doublet of liter.
Noun edit
rattle (plural rattles)
- (historical units of measure) Alternative form of rottol: a former Middle Eastern and North African unit of dry weight usually equal to 1–5 lb (0.5–2.5 kg).