Rattle word meaning and definition

[noun] loosely connected horny sections at the end of a rattlesnake's tail
[noun] a baby's toy that makes percussive noises when shaken
[noun] a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders); "the death rattle"
[verb] shake and cause to make a rattling noise
[verb] make short successive sounds

\Rat"tle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Rattled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Rattling}.] [Akin to D. ratelen, G. rasseln, AS. hr[ae]tele a rattle, in hr[ae]telwyrt rattlewort; cf. Gr. ? to swing, wave. Cf. {Rail} a bird.] 1. To make a quick succession of sharp, inharmonious noises, as by the collision of hard and not very sonorous bodies shaken together; to clatter. And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms. --Addison. 'T was but the wind, Or the car rattling o'er the stony street. --Byron. 2. To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering; as, we rattled along for a couple of miles. [Colloq.] 3. To make a clatter with a voice; to talk rapidly and idly; to clatter; -- with on or away; as, she rattled on for an hour. [Colloq.]
\Rat"tle\, v. t. 1. To cause to make a ratting or clattering sound; as, to rattle a chain. 2. To assail, annoy, or stun with a ratting noise. Sound but another [drum], and another shall As loud as thine rattle the welkin's ear. --Shak. 3. Hence, to disconcert; to confuse; as, to rattle one's judgment; to rattle a player in a game. [Colloq.] 4. To scold; to rail at. --L'Estrange. {To rattle off}.
(a) To tell glibly or noisily; as, to rattle off a story.
(b) To rail at; to scold. ``She would sometimes rattle off her servants sharply.'' --Arbuthnot.
\Rat"tle\, n. 1. A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum. --Prior. 2. Noisy, rapid talk. All this ado about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceit. --Hakewill. 3. An instrument with which a ratting sound is made; especially, a child's toy that rattle when shaken. The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other. --Sir W. Raleigh. Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. --Pope. 4. A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer. It may seem strange that a man who wrote with so much perspicuity, vivacity, and grace, should have been, whenever he took a part in conversation, an empty, noisy, blundering rattle. --Macaulay. 5. A scolding; a sharp rebuke. [Obs.] --Heylin. 6. (Zo["o]l.) Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a ratting sound. Note: The rattle of the rattlesnake is composed of the hardened terminal scales, loosened in succession, but not cast off, and so modified in form as to make a series of loose, hollow joints. 7. The noise in the throat produced by the air in passing through mucus which the lungs are unable to expel; -- chiefly observable at the approach of death, when it is called the death rattle. See {R[^a]le}. {To spring a rattle}, to cause it to sound. {Yellow rattle} (Bot.), a yellow-flowered herb ({Rhinanthus Crista-galli}), the ripe seeds of which rattle in the inflated calyx.

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