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bustle
10 dictionary results for: bustle
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
bus·tle1       [buhs-uhl] Pronunciation Key verb, -tled, -tling, noun
–verb (used without object)
1.to move or act with a great show of energy (often fol. by about): He bustled about cooking breakfast.
2.to abound or teem with something; display an abundance of something; teem (often fol. by with): The office bustled with people and activity.
–verb (used with object)
3.to cause to bustle; hustle.
–noun
4.thriving or energetic activity; stir; ferment.

[Origin: 1615–25; ME bustelen to hurry aimlessly along, perh. akin to ON busla to splash about, bustle]

bustler, noun
bus·tling·ly, adverb

4. ado, flurry, agitation, fuss.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
bus·tle2       [buhs-uhl] Pronunciation Key
–noun
1.fullness around or below the waist of a dress, as added by a peplum, bows, ruffles, etc.
2.a pad, cushion, or framework formerly worn under the back of a woman's skirt to expand, support, and display the full cut and drape of a dress.

[Origin: 1780–90; orig. uncert.]

bustled, adjective
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bus·tle 1       (bŭs'əl)  Pronunciation Key 
intr. & tr.v.   bus·tled, bus·tling, bus·tles
To move or cause to move energetically and busily.

n.   Excited and often noisy activity; a stir.


[Possibly variant of obsolete buskle, frequentative of busk, to prepare oneself, from Old Norse būask, reflexive of būa, to prepare; see bheuə- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bus·tle 2       (bŭs'əl)  Pronunciation Key 
n.  
  1. A frame or pad to support and expand the fullness of the back of a woman's skirt.
  2. A bow, peplum, or gathering of material at the back of a woman's skirt below the waist.


[Origin unknown.]

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bustle  (1)
"be active," 1362, frequentative of M.E. bresten "to rush, break," from O.E. bersten, infl. by O.N. buask "to make oneself ready." The noun is first attested 1622. Bustling, of a place, is first recorded 1880.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
bustle  (2)
"padding in a skirt," 1788, perhaps from Ger. Buschel "bunch, pad," or may be a special use of bustle (1) with ref. to "rustling motion."

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
bustle

noun
1. a rapid active commotion 
2. a framework worn at the back below the waist for giving fullness to a woman's skirt 

verb
1. move or cause to move energetically or busily; "The cheerleaders bustled about excitingly before their performance" 

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bustle

Bus"tle\ (b[u^]s"s'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Bustled (-s'ld); p. pr. & vb.n. Bustling (-sl[i^]ng).] [Cf. OE. buskle, perh. fr. AS. bysig busy, bysg-ian to busy + the verbal termination -le; or Icel. bustla to splash, bustle.] To move noisily; to be rudely active; to move in a way to cause agitation or disturbance; as, to bustle through a crowd.

And leave the world for me to bustle in. --Shak.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bustle

Bus"tle\, n. Great stir; agitation; tumult from stirring or excitement.

A strange bustle and disturbance in the world. --South.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Bustle

Bus"tle\, n. A kind of pad or cushion worn on the back below the waist, by women, to give fullness to the skirts; -- called also bishop, and tournure.

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