Lexic.us

Definition of Rattle

1. Noun. A rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders). "The death rattle"

2. Verb. Make short successive sounds. "The streets rattle with cars "

3. Noun. A baby's toy that makes percussive noises when shaken.

4. Verb. Shake and cause to make a rattling noise.

5. Noun. Loosely connected horny sections at the end of a rattlesnake's tail.

Definition of Rattle

1. v. i. To make a quick succession of sharp, inharmonious noises, as by the collision of hard and not very sonorous bodies shaken together; to clatter.

2. v. t. To cause to make a rattling or clattering sound; as, to rattle a chain.

3. n. A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum.

Definition of Rattle

1. to make a quick succession of short, sharp sounds [v -TLED, -TLING, -TLES]

Medical Definition of Rattle

1. 1. A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum. 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. 6. Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a ratting sound. 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 Rale. To spring a rattle, to cause it to sound. Yellow rattle, a yellow-flowered herb (Rhinanthus Crista-galli), the ripe seeds of which rattle in the inflated calyx. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Rattle

rattener ratteners rattening rattens ratter ratteries ratters rattery rattier rattiest

Rattigan ratting rattings rattish rattle (current term) rattle (current term) rattle-top rattlebox rattlebox rattleboxes

rattlebrain rattlebrained rattlebrains rattled rattlepated rattler rattlers rattles rattlesnake rattlesnake

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