bustle1
[buhs-uh l]
- to move or act with a great show of energy (often followed by about): He bustled about cooking breakfast.
- to abound or teem with something; display an abundance of something; teem (often followed by with): The office bustled with people and activity.
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- to cause to bustle; hustle.
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- thriving or energetic activity; stir; ferment.
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Origin of bustle1
1615–25; Middle English bustelen to hurry aimlessly along, perhaps akin to Old Norse busla to splash about, bustle
Synonyms
See more synonyms for bustle on Thesaurus.com4. ado, flurry, agitation, fuss.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for bustling
Contemporary Examples
It was the Civil War that drove Leslie from his Cincinnati home to the bustling metropolis of New York City.
We spent time in the bustling visitor center, then took a spin through the packed Civil War museum.
Mandelbaum began her climb to the top of the crime world as a peddler on the rough-and-tumble, bustling streets of New York City.
Meet 'The Queen of Thieves' Marm Mandelbaum, New York City's First Mob BossJ. North Conway
September 7, 2014
Off the coast of Japan stands a crumbling, post-apocalyptic abandoned island that once held a bustling mining community.
What was once one of 505 uninhabited islands in the region quickly became a bustling, crammed metropolis.
Historical Examples
The little house was bustling; a dozen automobiles were parked in the barnyard.
KMary Roberts Rinehart
Simple, honest, and quiet, they had little to do with their bustling neighbors.
Classic MythsMary Catherine Judd
Relieved and cheerful, she was bustling about to get Ralph's supper on the table.
The Shadow of a CrimeHall Caine
“Make this thy home, thou Piping Will,”The bustling mother said.
Madrid is a lively, bustling, modern city of more than 1½ million people.
Getting to know SpainDee Day
bustle1
- (when intr , often foll by about) to hurry or cause to hurry with a great show of energy or activity
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- energetic and noisy activity
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Word Origin
C16: probably from obsolete buskle to make energetic preparation, from dialect busk from Old Norse būask to prepare
bustle2
- a cushion or a metal or whalebone framework worn by women in the late 19th century at the back below the waist in order to expand the skirt
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Word Origin
C18: of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for bustling
adj.
of a place, 1880, present participle adjective from bustle (v.).
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bustle
v.
"be active," 1570s (bustling "noisy or excited activity" is from early 15c.), frequentative of Middle English bresten "to rush, break," from Old English bersten (see burst (v.)), influenced by Old Norse buask "to make oneself ready" (see busk (v.)), or from busk (v.) via a frequentative form buskle. Related: Bustled; bustling; bustler.
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bustle
n.2
"padding in a skirt," 1788, of uncertain origin, perhaps from German Buschel "bunch, pad," or it might be a special use of bustle (n.1) with reference to "rustling motion."
BUSTLE. A pad stuffed with cotton, feathers, bran, &c., worn by ladies for the double purpose of giving a greater rotundity or prominence to the hips, and setting off the smallness of the waist. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]
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bustle
n.1
"activity, stir, fuss, commotion," 1630s, from bustle (v.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper