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rattle - 10 dictionary results
rat⋅tle
1
[rat-l] 
verb, -tled, -tling, noun –verb (used without object)
| 1. | to give out or cause a rapid succession of short, sharp sounds, as in consequence of agitation and repeated concussions: The windows rattled in their frames. |
| 2. | to move or go, esp. rapidly, with such sounds: The car rattled along the highway. |
| 3. | to talk rapidly; chatter: He rattled on for an hour about his ailments. |
–verb (used with object)
| 4. | to cause to rattle: He rattled the doorknob violently. |
| 5. | to drive, send, bring, etc., esp. rapidly, with rattling sounds: The wind rattled the metal can across the roadway. |
| 6. | to utter or perform in a rapid or lively manner: to rattle off a list of complaints. |
| 7. | to disconcert or confuse (a person): A sudden noise rattled the speaker. |
| 8. | Hunting. to stir up (a cover). |
–noun
| 9. | a rapid succession of short, sharp sounds, as from the collision of hard bodies. |
| 10. | an instrument contrived to make a rattling sound, esp. a baby's toy filled with small pellets that rattle when shaken. |
| 11. | the series of horny, interlocking elements at the end of the tail of a rattlesnake, with which it produces a rattling sound. |
| 12. | a rattling sound in the throat, as the death rattle. |
Origin:
1250–1300; ME ratelen (v.), ratele (n.) (c. D ratelen, G rasseln); imit.
1250–1300; ME ratelen (v.), ratele (n.) (c. D ratelen, G rasseln); imit.
Synonyms:
1. clatter, knock. 7. discompose. 9. clatter.
1. clatter, knock. 7. discompose. 9. clatter.
rat⋅tle
2 [rat-l] –verb (used with object), -tled, -tling. Nautical.
| to furnish with ratlines (usually fol. by down). |
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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|
Link To rattle
| rat·tle 1 (rāt'l) v. rat·tled, rat·tling, rat·tles v. intr.
[Middle English ratelen, perhaps from Middle Dutch, probably of imitative origin.] |
| rat·tle 2 (rāt'l) tr.v. rat·tled, rat·tling, rat·tles To secure ratlines to (shrouds). [Back-formation from rattling, ratline, variant of ratline.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Rattle
Rat"tle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rattled; p. pr. & vb. n. Rattling.] [Akin to D. ratelen, G. rasseln, AS. hr[ae]tele a rattle, in hr[ae]telwyrt rattlewort; cf. Gr. ? to swing, wave. Cf. Rail a bird.]1. To make a quick succession of sharp, inharmonious noises, as by the collision of hard and not very sonorous bodies shaken together; to clatter. And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms. --Addison. 'T was but the wind, Or the car rattling o'er the stony street. --Byron. 2. To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering; as, we rattled along for a couple of miles. [Colloq.] 3. To make a clatter with a voice; to talk rapidly and idly; to clatter; -- with on or away; as, she rattled on for an hour. [Colloq.]Rattle
Rat"tle\, v. t. 1. To cause to make a ratting or clattering sound; as, to rattle a chain. 2. To assail, annoy, or stun with a ratting noise. Sound but another [drum], and another shall As loud as thine rattle the welkin's ear. --Shak. 3. Hence, to disconcert; to confuse; as, to rattle one's judgment; to rattle a player in a game. [Colloq.] 4. To scold; to rail at. --L'Estrange. To rattle off. (a) To tell glibly or noisily; as, to rattle off a story. (b) To rail at; to scold. "She would sometimes rattle off her servants sharply." --Arbuthnot.Rattle
Rat"tle\, n. 1. A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum. --Prior. 2. Noisy, rapid talk. All this ado about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceit. --Hakewill. 3. An instrument with which a ratting sound is made; especially, a child's toy that rattle when shaken. The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other. --Sir W. Raleigh. Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. --Pope. 4. A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer. 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. --Macaulay. 5. A scolding; a sharp rebuke. [Obs.] --Heylin. 6. (Zo["o]l.) Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a ratting sound. Note: The rattle of the rattlesnake is composed of the hardened terminal scales, loosened in succession, but not cast off, and so modified in form as to make a series of loose, hollow joints. 7. The noise in the throat produced by the air in passing through mucus which the lungs are unable to expel; -- chiefly observable at the approach of death, when it is called the death rattle. See R[^a]le. To spring a rattle, to cause it to sound. Yellow rattle (Bot.), a yellow-flowered herb (Rhinanthus Crista-galli), the ripe seeds of which rattle in the inflated calyx.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : rattle
Spanish:
hacer sonar, hacer vibrar,
German:
klappern,
Japanese:
がたがた鳴る
rattle (v.)
c.1330, perhaps in O.E., but not recorded; if not, from M.Du. ratelen, probably of imitative origin (cf. Ger. rasseln "to rattle," Gk. kradao "I rattle"). Sense of "fluster" is first recorded 1869. The noun is first recorded 1500, in ref. to the sound; as a child's toy, recorded from 1519. Rattlesnake is from 1630; shortened form rattler is from 1827. Rattletrap is from 1766, originally a noun, "nicknacks, trifles, odds and ends;" adj. sense of "rickety" is recorded from 1834.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: rat·tle
Pronunciation: 'rat-&l
Function: noun
1 : the sound-producing organ on a rattlesnake's tail
2 : a throat noise caused by air passing through mucus; specifically : DEATH RATTLE —compare
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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rattle
percussion instrument consisting of resonant objects strung together and set in a sliding frame or enclosed in a container such that when it is shaken the parts strike against each other, producing sounds. In many societies, rattles are associated with the supernatural and accompany religious rites. Slung rattles (shells, bones, hooves, or similar objects strung on a cord or tied in bunches and attached to a dancer's body) are among the earliest musical instruments, appearing, along with gourd and tube rattles, in prehistoric times. Gourd rattles are particularly prominent as ritual instruments. Where gourds are uncommon, similar rattles are made of basketry, wood, clay, or other material. Gourd rattles known from their use in popular Latin American dance bands are the cabaca (Portuguese for "calabash"), a gourd enclosed in a beaded mesh, and maracas. Rattles are widely considered to have magical power, from the turtle rattles of the Native Americans of the northeastern United States and the gourd rattles of Amazonian Brazil to the shaman accoutrements of Africa and Oceania.
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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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