hustle

[huhs-uh l]

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.

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

Related Words for hustling

busy, occupied, bustling, active

Examples from the Web for hustling

Contemporary Examples of hustling

Rick Scott is over in Florida, and he is hustling business out of the state of Texas.
Rick Perry Is Coming for Your Job
David Freedlander
April 24, 2014
Like all “overnight” successes, Gelman has spent the better part of two decades hustling in all media.
Brett Gelman Has Dinner with Your Favorite TV Sidekicks
Rich Goldstein
April 24, 2014
The air in Lagos is one of striving, of hustling and it is a city that very easily leaves you behind.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Literary Lagos
Henry Krempels
March 16, 2014
Privately, he had huge inhibitions about hustling, but he fought them down and sweated.
What It Was Like to Watch the Beatles Become the Beatles—Nik Cohn Remembers
Nik Cohn
February 9, 2014
Vali sings while playing with an alligator on a pink swing set, hustling at a lemonade stand and dancing with shadowy creatures.
Miley Cyrus, Arcade Fire & More Best Music Videos of the Week (VIDEO)
Victoria Kezra
September 15, 2013

Historical Examples of hustling

And a devilish piece of luck it was, for I have been hustling ever since.
Her Father's Daughter
Gene Stratton-Porter
With the four of them hustling, things were speedily arranged.
Phil Bradley's Mountain Boys
Silas K. Boone
They have been hustling since then, but we held the lead for a long time.
Frank Merriwell's Cruise
Burt L. Standish
The hustling business man who borrows is usually under forty.
Dollars and Sense
Col. Wm. C. Hunter
The driver in advance was a hustling fellow, and he had two good horses.
Frank Merriwell's Bravery
Burt L. Standish

British Dictionary definitions for hustling

hustle

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 hustling

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.

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.