rattle

[rat-l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rattle ON THESAURUS.COM

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

to give out or cause a rapid succession of short, sharp sounds, as in consequence of agitation and repeated concussions: The windows rattled in their frames.

to move or go, especially rapidly, with such sounds: The car rattled along the highway.

to talk rapidly; chatter: He rattled on for an hour about his ailments.

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

to cause to rattle: He rattled the doorknob violently.

to drive, send, bring, etc., especially rapidly, with rattling sounds: The wind rattled the metal can across the roadway.

to utter or perform in a rapid or lively manner: to rattle off a list of complaints.

to disconcert or confuse (a person): A sudden noise rattled the speaker.

Hunting. to stir up (a cover).

noun

a rapid succession of short, sharp sounds, as from the collision of hard bodies.

an instrument contrived to make a rattling sound, especially a baby's toy filled with small pellets that rattle when shaken.

the series of horny, interlocking elements at the end of the tail of a rattlesnake, with which it produces a rattling sound.

a rattling sound in the throat, as the death rattle.

Origin of rattle

1250–1300; Middle English ratelen (v.), ratele (noun) (cognate with Dutch ratelen, German rasseln); imitative

Synonyms for rattle

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rattle ON THESAURUS.COM

1. clatter, knock. 7. discompose. 9. clatter.

rattle

[rat-l]

verb (used with object), rat·tled, rat·tling. Nautical.

to furnish with ratlines (usually followed by down).

Origin of rattle

1720–30; back formation from ratling ratline (taken as verbal noun)

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

Related Words for rattled

knock, shatter, jar, jolt, bounce, vibrate, shake, disturb, bewilder, faze, frighten, bother, unnerve, confuse, distract, confound, embarrass, scare, sound, jangle

Examples from the Web for rattled

Contemporary Examples of rattled

In that book, Hoving made many claims that rattled the gatekeepers of the art world.
Are Over Half the Works on the Art Market Really Fakes?
Tom Sykes
October 17, 2014
He admitted that repeated questions about the currency and the economy had rattled voters.
Scots Must Choose Heart or Head
Nico Hines
September 18, 2014
The crisis in neighbouring Ukraine has rattled Alexander Lukashenko's authoritarian regime.
The Daily Beast’s Best Longreads, June 14, 2014
The Daily Beast
June 14, 2014
It was a ghastly tragedy that rattled a nation and became a byword for anti-Semitism in France.
A Horror Story of True-Life Anti-Semitism in France
Tracy McNicoll
April 28, 2014
Rattled, Harris fled to New York, leaving his vast estate to his protégé.
The Grape King from Shogunate Japan
Debra A. Klein
April 3, 2014

Historical Examples of rattled

I might have paid them at the time, but it was all so unexpected and so sudden,—it rattled me, quite.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
He rattled the snaffle in his mouth with nervous indecision—he had a notion to try it.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
Suddenly she dropped the brush; it rattled and spun on the polished floor.
The Incomplete Amorist
E. Nesbit
Then Massot rattled on, telling all there was to tell about Fonsegue.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
Furious blasts clutched at the windows, and rattled them like castanets.
The Green Satin Gown
Laura E. Richards

British Dictionary definitions for rattled

Rattle

noun

Sir Simon . born 1955, English conductor. Principal conductor (1980–91) and music director (1991–98) of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra; chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 2002

rattle

verb

to make or cause to make a rapid succession of short sharp sounds, as of loose pellets colliding when shaken in a container

to shake or cause to shake with such a soundthe explosion rattled the windows

to send, move, drive, etc, with such a soundthe car rattled along the country road

(intr foll by on) to chatter idly; talk, esp at lengthhe rattled on about his work

(tr ; foll by off, out etc) to recite perfunctorily or rapidly

(tr) informal to disconcert; make frightened or anxious

noun

a rapid succession of short sharp sounds

an object, esp a baby's toy, filled with small pellets that rattle when shaken

a series of loosely connected horny segments on the tail of a rattlesnake, vibrated to produce a rattling sound

any of various European scrophulariaceous plants having a capsule in which the seeds rattle, such as Pedicularis palustris (red rattle) and Rhinanthus minor (yellow rattle)

idle chatter

an idle chatterer

med another name for rale

Word Origin for rattle

C14: from Middle Dutch ratelen; related to Middle High German razzen, of imitative origin

rattle

verb

(tr often foll by down) to fit (a vessel or its rigging) with ratlines

Word Origin for rattle

C18: back formation from rattling, variant of ratline

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 rattled

rattle

c.1300 (intransitive), "To make a quick sharp noise with frequent repetitions and collisions of bodies not very sonorous: when bodies are sonorous, it is called jingling" [Johnson]. Perhaps in Old English but not recorded; if not, from Middle Dutch ratelen, probably of imitative origin (cf. German rasseln "to rattle," Greek kradao "I rattle"). Sense of "utter smartly and rapidly" is late 14c. Meaning "to go along loosely and noisily" is from 1550s. Transitive sense is late 14c.; figurative sense of "fluster" is first recorded 1869. Related: Rattled; rattling.

rattle

c.1500, "rapid succession of short, sharp sounds," from rattle (v.). As a child's toy, recorded from 1510s. As a sound made in the throat (especially of one near death) from 1752.