rat·tling

[rat-ling]
adjective
1.
that rattles: a rattling door.
2.
remarkably good, lively, or fast: a rattling talk; a rattling gallop.
adverb
3.
very: a rattling good time.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English ratelinge; see rattle1, -ing2

rat·tling·ly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged

rat·tle

1 [rat-l] verb, rat·tled, rat·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, especially 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., especially 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, especially 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; Middle English ratelen (v.), ratele (noun) (cognate with Dutch ratelen, German rasseln); imitative


1. clatter, knock. 7. discompose. 9. clatter.
00:10
Rattling is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.

rat·tle

2 [rat-l]
verb (used with object), rat·tled, rat·tling. Nautical.
to furnish with ratlines (usually followed by down ).

Origin:
1720–30; back formation from ratling ratline (taken as verbal noun)

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
rattle1 (ˈrætəl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb (foll by on)
1.  to make or cause to make a rapid succession of short sharp sounds, as of loose pellets colliding when shaken in a container
2.  to shake or cause to shake with such a sound: the explosion rattled the windows
3.  to send, move, drive, etc, with such a sound: the car rattled along the country road
4.  to chatter idly; talk, esp at length: he rattled on about his work
5.  (tr; foll by off, out etc) to recite perfunctorily or rapidly
6.  informal (tr) to disconcert; make frightened or anxious
 
n
7.  a rapid succession of short sharp sounds
8.  an object, esp a baby's toy, filled with small pellets that rattle when shaken
9.  a series of loosely connected horny segments on the tail of a rattlesnake, vibrated to produce a rattling sound
10.  any of various European scrophulariaceous plants having a capsule in which the seeds rattle, such as Pedicularis palustris (red rattle) and Rhinanthus minor (yellow rattle)
11.  idle chatter
12.  an idle chatterer
13.  med another name for rale
 
[C14: from Middle Dutch ratelen; related to Middle High German razzen, of imitative origin]

rattle2 (ˈrætəl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
vb (down)
to fit (a vessel or its rigging) with ratlines
 
[C18: back formation from rattling, variant of ratline]

Rattle (ˈrætəl) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
Sir Simon. born 1955, British conductor. Principal conductor (1980--91) and music director (1991--98) of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 2002

rattling (ˈrætlɪŋ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adv
informal (intensifier qualifying something good, fine, pleasant, etc): a rattling good lunch

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

rattle
early 14c., 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 c.1500, in ref. to the sound; as a child's toy, recorded from 1510s. Rattlesnake
is from 1620s; 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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary

rattling definition


  1. mod.
    excellent. (Collegiate. See also rocking.) : Her party was really rattling.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Both were accompanied by the rattling of regulatory sabres.
The rattling call of the belted kingfisher is often what attracts our attention
  to these handsome birds.
In effect, tail warming serves the squirrel in much the same way that rattling
  serves the rattlesnake, the researchers say.
The pens were rattling, and my father told me to go check them.
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