rattle
nounEtymology 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.
11 senses
- 1Any of various plants of the genera Rhinanthus and…
- 2A baby’s toy designed to make sound when shaken, usually…
- 3A musical instrument that makes a rattling sound.
- 4A device which produces a loud rattling sound…
- 5The set of rings at the end of a rattlesnake's tail…
- 6A rapid succession of percussive sounds, as made by…
- 7Noisy, rapid talk; babble.
- 8Trivial chatter; gossip.
- 9A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer.
- 10A scolding; a sharp rebuke.
- 11A rough noise produced in the throat by air passing…
› Object that rattles.
Any of various plants of the genera Rhinanthus and Pedicularis, whose seeds produce a rattling noise in the wind.
A baby’s toy designed to make sound when shaken, usually containing loose grains or pellets in a hollow container.
- Pleas'd with a rattle, tickled with a straw.1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music A musical instrument that makes a rattling sound.
- The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other.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):
A device which produces a loud rattling sound, especially one having a ratchet mechanism and spun round on a handle.
- [T]he footpath to Hendon went across hay and corn fields and in summer the sound of rattles used by boys hired to "fray" the birds from the crops was familiar.1977, K.M. Elizabeth Murray, Caught in the Web of Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 107:
Biology, Natural sciences, Zoology The set of rings at the end of a rattlesnake's tail which produce a rattling sound.
- 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.
- The majority of snakes were killed on the spot, as a snaker only had to produce the rattles to collect the bounty.2017, Kenny Salwey, J. Scott Bestul, The Last River Rat: Kenny Salwey's Life in the Wild:
› Rattling sound.
Onomatopoeic A rapid succession of percussive sounds, as made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another.
- I wish they would fix the rattle under my dashboard.
- The rattle of a drum.1902, Arthur M. Winfield, The Rover Boys in the Mountains, Chapter 4:
1 more example
- For a few minutes, the sharp cracking of guns ahead warned them to haste, but finally the reports dwindled to an occasional shot, presently ceasing altogether. Nor was this less ominous than the rattle of musketry, for it suggested but a single solution to the little band of rescuers—that the illy garrisoned village had already succumbed to the onslaught of a superior force.1913, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York: Ballantine Books, published 1963, page 133:
Archaic Noisy, rapid talk; babble.
- All this adoe about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceipt.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:
Archaic Trivial chatter; gossip.
- “And pray where, Lady Honoria,” cried Mrs. Delvile, “do you contrive to pick up all this rattle?”1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, III.v.5:
A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer.
- ‘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 […].’c. 1794, Jane Austen, Lady Susan:
- 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.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:
Obsolete A scolding; a sharp rebuke.
A rough noise produced in the throat by air passing through obstructed airways; croup; a death rattle.
- Derived terms
35 terms
antirattle, berattle, death rattle, death-rattle, gourd rattle, in the rattle, rattleback, rattlebag, rattlebox, rattlebrain, rattlebrained, rattlebush, rattlehead, rattleheaded, rattleless, rattlepate, rattlepated, rattlepod, rattleproof, rattleroot, rattleskull, rattlesnake, rattlesome, rattle stone, rattleweed, rattlewings, rattlewort, rattly, red rattle, Scotsman's rattle, throw one's rattle out of the cot, throw one's rattle out of the pram, tobacco rattle, watchman's rattle, yellow rattle