hustle

[ huhs-uh l ]

/ ˈhʌs əl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR hustle ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), hus·tled, hus·tling.

to proceed or work rapidly or energetically: to hustle about putting a house in order.

to push or force one's way; jostle or shove.

to be aggressive, especially in business or other financial dealings.

Slang. to earn one's living by illicit or unethical means.

Slang. (of a prostitute) to solicit clients.

verb (used with object), hus·tled, hus·tling.

to convey or cause to move, especially to leave, roughly or hurriedly: They hustled him out of the bar.

to pressure or coerce (a person) to buy or do something: to hustle the customers into buying more drinks.

to urge, prod, or speed up: Hustle your work along.

to obtain by aggressive or illicit means: He could always hustle a buck or two from some sucker.

to beg; solicit.

to sell in or work (an area), especially by high-pressure tactics: The souvenir venders began hustling the town at dawn.

to sell aggressively: to hustle souvenirs.

to jostle, push, or shove roughly.

Slang. to induce (someone) to gamble or to promote (a gambling game) when the odds of winning are overwhelmingly in one's own favor.

Slang. to cheat; swindle: They hustled him out of his savings.

Slang.

(of a prostitute) to solicit (someone).
to attempt to persuade (someone) to have sexual relations.
to promote or publicize in a lively, vigorous, or aggressive manner: an author hustling her new book on the TV talk shows.

noun

energetic activity, as in work.

discourteous shoving, pushing, or jostling.

Slang.

an inducing by fraud, pressure, or deception, especially of inexperienced or uninformed persons, to buy something, to participate in an illicit scheme, dishonest gambling game, etc.
such a product, scheme, gambling game, etc.

Informal. a competitive struggle: the hustle to earn a living.

a fast, lively, popular ballroom dance evolving from Latin American, swing, rock, and disco dance styles, with a strong basic rhythm and simple step pattern augmented by strenuous turns, breaks, etc.

Nearby words

husserl, edmund, hussite, hussites, hussy, hustings, hustle, hustle up, hustler, huston, huston, john, huswife

Origin of hustle

1675–85; < Dutch husselen, variant of hutselen to shake, equivalent to hutsen to shake + -el- -le

Related formsout·hus·tle, verb (used with object), out·hus·tled, out·hus·tling.un·hus·tled, adjectiveun·hus·tling, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hustle

Her hustle has started to pay off and she started a 14-date national tour in early November.
From Church of Christ to Pansexual Rapper|Tyler Gillespie|November 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Halfway to the park, the hustle of Goma and outlying villages faded behind him.
A Belgian Prince, Gorillas, Guerrillas & the Future of the Congo|Nina Strochlic|November 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Summer vacations should offer a hiatus from the hustle but at the Hamptons everyone is selling or pushing someone or something.
The Hell of the Hamptons: Why the Exclusive Hotspot Is a Mind-Numbing Drag|Robert Gold|August 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Back then she was “forced,” but soon she started to hustle on corners “willingly,” and was paid for sex.
Liberia’s Child Prostitutes|Clair MacDougall|May 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Titanic Thompson could beat you at cards, hustle you at golf, and bet you on anything, so long as the odds were in his favor.
Portrait of the Consummate Con Man|John Lardner|May 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Sometimes you'll have to hustle Charnock and sometimes hold him tight.
The Girl From Keller's|Harold Bindloss
Then, since you know the Spanish rules, my notion is you ought to have got on a hustle earlier.
Kit Musgrave's Luck|Harold Bindloss
"We must hustle, if we want to get to Uncle Ike's before dark," Tom declared.
Ruth Fielding and the Gypsies|Alice B. Emerson
You need to hustle it up to Leaping Horse, and on to the camp right away.
The Triumph of John Kars|Ridgwell Cullum
Hustle them down as quickly as you can, and then well repay his generosity by giving him a lift to Rosemount.
Ainslee's magazine, Volume 16, No. 2, September, 1905|Various

British Dictionary definitions for hustle

hustle

/ (ˈhʌsəl) /

verb

to shove or crowd (someone) roughly

to move or cause to move hurriedly or furtivelyhe hustled her out of sight

(tr) to deal with or cause to proceed hurriedlyto hustle legislation through

slang to earn or obtain (something) forcefully

US and Canadian slang (of procurers and prostitutes) to solicit

noun

an instance of hustling

undue activity

a disco dance of the 1970s

Derived Formshustler, noun

Word Origin for hustle

C17: from Dutch husselen to shake, from Middle Dutch hutsen

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 hustle (1 of 2)

hustle

1680s, "to shake to and fro" (especially of money in a cap, as part of a game called hustle-cap), metathesized from Dutch hutselen, husseln "to shake, to toss," frequentative of hutsen, variant of hotsen "to shake." "The stems hot-, hut- appear in a number of formations in both High and Low German dialects, all implying a shaking movement" [OED]. Related: Hustled; hustling. Meaning "push roughly, shove" first recorded 1751. That of "hurry, move quickly" is from 1812.

The key-note and countersign of life in these cities [of the U.S. West] is the word "hustle." We have caught it in the East. but we use it humorously, just as we once used the Southern word "skedaddle," but out West the word hustle is not only a serious term, it is the most serious in the language. [Julian Ralph, "Our Great West," N.Y., 1893]

Sense of "to get in a quick, illegal manner" is 1840 in American English; that of "to sell goods aggressively" is 1887.

Word Origin and History for hustle (1 of 2)

hustle

"pushing activity; activity in the interest of success," 1891, American English, from hustle (v.); earlier it meant "a shaking together" (1715). Sense of "illegal business activity" is by 1963, American English. As a name of a popular dance, by 1975.

hustle

verb (used without object), hus·tled, hus·tling.

verb (used with object), hus·tled, hus·tling.

noun

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Origin of hustle

Examples from the Web for hustle

British Dictionary definitions for hustle

hustle

verb

noun

Word Origin for hustle

Word Origin and History for hustle (1 of 2)

hustle

Word Origin and History for hustle (1 of 2)

hustle