Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Informal Animated; brisk: a rattling conversation about politics.
- adv. Used as an intensive: "the guiltless gust of a rattling good yarn” ( Anthony Burgess).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act of making a rattle, clatter, or continuous jarring noise.
- n. The act of berating or railing at or otherwise assailing or attacking: as, to give one a rattling.
- Making or adapted for making a rattle; hence, smart; sharp; lively in action, movement, or manners: as, a rattling rider; rattling pace; a rattling game; a rattling girl.
- Bewilderingly large or conspicuous: as, rattling stakes or bets.
- n. A corruption of ratline.
- Extremely; ‘stunning’: as, a rattling good speech.
Wiktionary
- adj. lively, quick (speech, pace)
- n. rattle (a sound made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another)
- n. nautical Alternative form of ratline.
- v. present participle of rattle.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal
- n. a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders)
- adj. quick and energetic
- adj. extraordinarily good or great ; used especially as intensifiers
Examples
“I wish you would continue to give me any fugitive ideas or remarks which may occur to you in the course of your reading; and what you call your rattling way is that of all others which pleases me the most.”
Memoirs of Aaron Burr
“It is filled with enough fun facts and brain rattling memories that it makes for a solid cover to cover read that will put you in the right holiday frame of mind.”
“Slaton White's article in the October issue of F&S on rattling is the textbook example of how to rattle.”
“And in the rut rattling is one of the best ways to bring in the giants, that is if they arent with a doe!”
“You know absolutely nothing about North Korea, and I agree with Observer – the only way they are going to quit saber-rattling is if we carpet bomb every government facility in North Korea.”
“[Cue: Shrieking and chain rattling, and ominous insane pipe organ music fading in the wind ....]”
The Huffington Post: Chris Weigant: Terrifying Hallowe'en Nightmares, Left And Right
“Antler rattling is an effective technique during the rut, when bucks are more aggressive”
Antler Rattling Tips: How to Call In Big Bucks During The Rut
“Saber-rattling is not a good way to get the Iranians to cooperate.”
“The saber-rattling from the Bush White House over Iran is either a smokescreen to draw attention away from U.S.”
“Fact US and Iran begin rattling sabres, oil prices rise.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘rattling’.
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Rats
rats, rat, tree-rat, pilori-rat, prorate, pro rata, Ratso Rizzo, ratfink, rat pack, Rat Pack, Rats!, rat race and 157 more...
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Descriptions of Sound
jingling, gurgling, horrisonous, horrisonant, crepitant, screeching, ringing, sonorous, clamorous, rattling, roaring, breathy and 71 more...
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terrific
tremendous, howling, rattling, radical, gorgon, awe(ful)some, pitch Seaver, wow, ohwowho, remarkedable, terrifical, stupendous and 8 more...
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Bird Wirds: Adjectives
Adjectives used in actual (non-taxonomic) bird names, past and present.
roseate, glossy, whooping, neotropic, pelagic, ferruginous, crested, whiskered, marbled, tufted, horned, eared and 818 more...
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Discordial
Annoying, loud, or awful sounds.
portamento, scroop, clangor, plangent, stentorian, hubbub, cacophony, burble, guggle, donder, sough, racket and 82 more...
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Mental lexicon supplies
puerile, pique, arcane, sophistry, cerebral, antiseptic, insouciance, nadir, prolix, avuncular, gauche, soporific and 44 more...
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Noises
rattling, jarring, rumbling, shriek, croak, chuckle, sultry, belt
Tweets
Looking for tweets for rattling.
hernesheir n. nautical, rfdef This word needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text }. --from the definitions. It's been reported to Feedbag. Jan 2, 2013