rattle

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: rattlingrale

WordNet 3.0

Noun (3)

  1. a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders)“the death rattle”Synonyms: rattlingrale
  2. a baby's toy that makes percussive noises when shaken
  3. loosely connected horny sections at the end of a rattlesnake's tail

Verb (2)

  1. make short successive sounds
  2. shake and cause to make a rattling noise
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Rattle \Rat"tle\, n.

1.A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum. --Prior. [1913 Webster]

2.Noisy, rapid talk. [1913 Webster]

All this ado about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceit.— Hakewill.[1913 Webster]

3.An instrument with which a rattling sound is made; especially, a child's toy that rattles when shaken. [1913 Webster]

The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other.— Sir W. Raleigh.[1913 Webster]
Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw.— Pope.[1913 Webster]

4.A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer. [1913 Webster]

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.[1913 Webster]

5.A scolding; a sharp rebuke. [Obs.] --Heylin. [1913 Webster]

6.(Zool.) Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a rattling sound. [1913 Webster]

Note: The rattle of a 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. [1913 Webster]

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 R[^a]le. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

Rattle \Rat"tle\ (r[a^]t"t'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rattled (-t'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Rattling (-tl[i^]ng).] [Akin to D. ratelen, G. rasseln, AS. hr[ae]tele a rattle, in hr[ae]telwyrt rattlewort; cf. Gr. kradai`nein to swing, wave. Cf. 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. [1913 Webster]

And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms.— Addison.[1913 Webster]
'T was but the wind, Or the car rattling o'er the stony street.— Byron.[1913 Webster]

2.To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering; as, we rattled along for a couple of miles. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

3.To make a clatter with the voice; to talk rapidly and idly; to clatter; -- with on or away; as, she rattled on for an hour. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

Rattle \Rat"tle\ (r[a^]t"t'l), v. t.

1.To cause to make a rattling or clattering sound; as, to rattle a chain. [1913 Webster]

2.To assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise. [1913 Webster]

Sound but another [drum], and another shall As loud as thine rattle the welkin's ear.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

3.Hence, to disconcert; to confuse; as, to rattle one's judgment; to rattle a player in a game. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]

4.To scold; to rail at. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

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