rattletrap

American  

[rat-l-trap] / ˈræt lˌtræp /

noun

1. a shaky, rattling object, as a rickety vehicle.

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rattletrap British  

/ ˈrætəlˌtræp /

noun

1. informal a broken-down old vehicle, esp an old car

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Etymology

Origin of rattletrap

First recorded in 1760–70; rattle ¹ + trap ¹

Example Sentences

City leaders were hellbent on a “bold modernization,” as one 1963 headline put it, razing rattletrap buildings for their version of a paved paradise with its million-dollar view of mountains and Puget Sound.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 17, 2021

Once, on a flight over Cuba, aboard a rattletrap former Soviet military aircraft, I sat in escalating alarm as the cabin filled with a weird mist.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2020

There’s a rumble outside of tires on gravel, and here comes Phil, gray haired and grizzled, bothered and cantankerous, getting out of his rattletrap, beaten-up truck that he’d backed up to the store.

From Washington Times • Mar. 5, 2017

To earn a living, the prizefighter was now a self-employed furniture mover, hauling people’s belongings in a rattletrap pickup.

From New York Times • May 21, 2012

After we got over the mountain, he never had a chance in his old rattletrap.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam