rattle

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English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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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.

Verb

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rattle (third-person singular simple present rattles, present participle rattling, simple past and past participle rattled)

  1. (transitive, ergative) To create a rattling sound by shaking or striking.
    to rattle a chain
    Rattle the can of cat treats if you need to find Fluffy.
    • 2011 February 5, Michael Kevin Darling, “Tottenham 2 - 1 Bolton”, in BBC‎[1]:
      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.
  2. (transitive, figurative, informal) To scare, startle, unsettle, or unnerve.
    • 1923 May 17, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “(please specify the page)”, in The Inimitable Jeeves, Harmondsworth, Middlesex [London]: Penguin Books, published 1979, →ISBN:
      “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?”
    • 2014 August 26, Richard Rae, “Manchester United humbled by MK Dons after Will Grigg hits double”, in The Guardian:
      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.
    • 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[2], →ISSN:
      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.
  3. (intransitive) To make a rattling noise; to make noise by or from shaking.
    I wish the dashboard in my car would quit rattling.
  4. (transitive, obsolete) To assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise.
  5. (transitive, obsolete) To scold; to rail at.
  6. To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering.
    We rattled along for a couple of miles.
  7. To make a clatter with one's voice; to talk rapidly and idly; often with on or away.
    She rattled on for an hour.
  8. (UK, slang) To experience withdrawal from drugs.
Derived terms
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
See also
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Noun

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rattle (countable and uncountable, plural rattles)

a baby with a rattle (2)
  1. Object that rattles.
    1. Any of various plants of the genera Rhinanthus and Pedicularis, whose seeds produce a rattling noise in the wind. [from 10th c.]
    2. A baby’s toy designed to make sound when shaken, usually containing loose grains or pellets in a hollow container. [from 16th c.]
    3. (music) A musical instrument that makes a rattling sound. [from 17th c.]
      • 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):
        The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other.
    4. A device which produces a loud rattling sound, especially one having a ratchet mechanism and spun round on a handle.
      • 1977, K.M. Elizabeth Murray, Caught in the Web of Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press, page 107:
        [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.
    5. (zoology) The set of rings at the end of a rattlesnake's tail which produce a rattling sound. [from 17th c.]
      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.
  2. Rattling sound.
    1. (onomatopoeia) A rapid succession of percussive sounds, as made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another. [from 16th c.]
      I wish they would fix the rattle under my dashboard.
    2. (now rare) Noisy, rapid talk; babble. [from 17th c.]
      • 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:
        All this adoe about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceipt.
    3. (uncountable, now rare) Trivial chatter; gossip. [from 17th c.]
      • 1782, Frances Burney, Cecilia, III.v.5:
        “And pray where, Lady Honoria,” cried Mrs. Delvile, “do you contrive to pick up all this rattle?”
    4. A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer. [from 17th c.]
      • c. 1794, Jane Austen, Lady Susan:
        ‘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 […] .’
      • 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:
        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.
    5. (obsolete) A scolding; a sharp rebuke. [17th–19th c.]
    6. A rough noise produced in the throat by air passing through obstructed airways; croup; a death rattle. [from 18th c.]
Derived terms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Arabic رَطْل (raṭl), variant of classical رِطْل (riṭl), ultimately from Ancient Greek λίτρα (lítra). Doublet of liter.

Noun

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rattle (plural rattles)

  1. (historical units of measure) Alternative form of rottol: a former Middle Eastern and North African unit of dry weight usually equal to 1–5 lb (0.5–2.5 kg).

Anagrams

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