'Rattle' definitions:
Definition of 'rattle'
(from WordNet)
noun
A rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders); "the death rattle" [syn: rattle, rattling, rale]
noun
A baby's toy that makes percussive noises when shaken
noun
Loosely connected horny sections at the end of a rattlesnake's tail
verb
Make short successive sounds
verb
Shake and cause to make a rattling noise
Definition of 'Rattle'
From: GCIDE
- 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]
Definition of 'Rattle'
From: GCIDE
- 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]
Definition of 'Rattle'
From: 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]