Library / English Dictionary

RATTLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("rattle" is a kind of...):

tail (the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body)

Holonyms ("rattle" is a part of...):

rattler; rattlesnake (pit viper with horny segments at the end of the tail that rattle when shaken)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A baby's toy that makes percussive noises when shaken

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("rattle" is a kind of...):

plaything; toy (an artifact designed to be played with)

Derivation:

rattle (shake and cause to make a rattling noise)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders)

Example:

the death rattle

Synonyms:

rale; rattle; rattling

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("rattle" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "rattle"):

crepitation rale (the crackling sound heard on auscultation when patients with respiratory diseases inhale; associated with tuberculosis and pneumonia and congestive heart failure)

Derivation:

rattle (make short successive sounds)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Shake and cause to make a rattling noise

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "rattle" is one way to...):

agitate; shake (move or cause to move back and forth)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

rattle (a baby's toy that makes percussive noises when shaken)

rattler (pit viper with horny segments at the end of the tail that rattle when shaken)

rattling (a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make short successive sounds

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "rattle" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "rattle"):

ruckle (make a hoarse, rattling sound)

crackle; crepitate (make a crackling sound)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sentence examples:

Cars rattle in the streets

The streets rattle with cars

Also:

rattle down; rattle off (recite volubly or extravagantly)

rattle on (talk incessantly and tiresomely)

Derivation:

rattle; rattling (a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders))

Credits

 Context examples: 

In the days that followed that new moon, something unexpected came up that may have rattled you.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

"Oz was not such a bad Wizard, after all," said the Tin Woodman, as he felt his heart rattling around in his breast.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

To her great relief and surprise, the old gentleman only threw his spectacles onto the table with a rattle and exclaimed frankly, You're right, girl, I am!

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

To my fancy, it is only because he does not rattle away like other young men.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

“Tell me,” I asked, as we rattled up Gray’s Inn Road, have you any suspicion yet as to the cause of the disappearance?

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Unwittingly, his hand rattled the door-latch.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Lord John lay silent, wrapped in the South American poncho which he wore, while Challenger snored with a roll and rattle which reverberated through the woods.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"Oh, I am so sick of the young men of the present day!" exclaimed she, rattling away at the instrument.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Then away rattled the nuts down among the boughs and one of the thieves cried, “Bless me, it is hailing.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I pulled, and pulled, at the door, and shook it till, massive as it was, it rattled in its casement. I could see the bolt shot.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)