RATTLE

rattle

(noun) loosely connected horny sections at the end of a rattlesnake’s tail

rattle

(noun) a baby’s toy that makes percussive noises when shaken

rattle, rattling, rale

(noun) a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders); “the death rattle”

rattle

(verb) shake and cause to make a rattling noise

rattle

(verb) make short successive sounds

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

rattle (plural rattles)

(onomatopoeia) a sound made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another.

A baby’s toy designed to make sound when shaken, usually containing loose grains or pellets in a hollow container.

A device that makes a rattling sound such as put on an animal so its location can be heard.

(musical instruments) A musical instrument that makes a rattling sound.

(dated) Noisy, rapid talk.

(now, rare) Trivial chatter; gossip.

(dated) A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer.

A scolding; a sharp rebuke.

(zoology) Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a rattling sound.

The noise produced in the throat by air passing through mucus which the lungs struggle to clear.

The noise in the throat produced by the air in passing through mucus which the lungs are unable to expel - sometimes occurs as a person nears death; death rattle.

Any plant of the genus Rhinanthus, whose seeds produce a rattling noise in the wind.

Verb

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

(transitive, ergative) To create a rattling sound by shaking or striking.

(transitive, informal) To scare, startle, unsettle, or unnerve.

(intransitive) To make a rattling noise; to make noise by or from shaking.

(transitive, obsolete) To assail, annoy, or stun with a ratting noise.

(transitive, obsolete) To scold; to rail at.

To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering.

To make a clatter with one's voice; to talk rapidly and idly; often with on or away.

Etymology 2

Noun

rattle (plural rattles)

(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

• Tatler, latter

Source: Wiktionary

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Rat"tle, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rattled; p. pr. & vb. n. Rattling.] Etym: [Akin to D. ratelen, G. rasseln, AS. hrætele a rattle, in hrætelwyrt rattlewort; cf. Gr. 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.]

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.

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. (Zoöl.)

Definition: 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 Râle. 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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