rattle
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɹæ.təl/
ipa: [ˈɹæ.tɫ̩]
rhymes: -ætəl
Forms: form: rattles
form: rattling
form: rattled
form: rattled
Etymology: From Middle English ratelen, of uncertain origin; perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch ratelen or of native origin related to Old English hratele, hrætele (“a plant known for its rustling or rattling sound”), ultimately imitative. The noun (c. 1500) is from the verb.
Senses: examples: text: to rattle a chain
text: Rattle the can of cat treats if you need to find Fluffy.
text: 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.
ref: 2011 February 5, Michael Kevin Darling, “Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton”, in BBC:
glosses: To create a rattling sound by shaking or striking.
examples: text: “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?”
ref: 1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “(please specify the page)”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1979, →ISBN:
text: 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.
ref: 2014 August 26, Richard Rae, “Manchester United humbled by MK Dons after Will Grigg hits double”, in The Guardian:
text: 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.
ref: 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, →ISSN:
glosses: To scare, startle, unsettle, or unnerve.
examples: text: I wish the dashboard in my car would quit rattling.
glosses: To make a rattling noise; to make noise by or from shaking.
examples: text: Sound but another [drum], and another shall / As loud as thine rattle the welkin’s ear.
ref: 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]:
glosses: To assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise.
examples: text: This came to the Bishop's Ear, who presently sent for the Curate, Rattled him to some Tune, with Menaces to the Highest Degree
ref: 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:
glosses: To scold; to rail at.
examples: text: We rattled along for a couple of miles.
glosses: To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering.
examples: text: She rattled on for an hour.
glosses: To make a clatter with one's voice; to talk rapidly and idly; often with on or away.
glosses: To experience withdrawal from drugs.
Derived terms: death rattle
death-rattle
rattle about
rattle around
rattle a saber
rattle a sabre
rattle can
rattle-free
rattle off
rattle on
rattle one's hocks
rattle one's saber
rattle one's sabre
rattler
rattle sabres
rattlesnake
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
Related terms: clapper
clatter
jingle
rumble
ruttle