rustle

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“
When Miss Gorham, Alora's governess, turned a page of her book, the rustle was appallingly audible.

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Definitions (24)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. intransitive verb To move with soft fluttering or crackling sounds.
  2. intransitive verb To move or act energetically or with speed.
  3. intransitive verb To forage food.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (10)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • And then the bedcovers rustle, a moan and then his reply.
  • When Miss Gorham, Alora's governess, turned a page of her book, the rustle was appallingly audible. —  Mary Louise Solves a Mystery
  • Neighbours ridiculed the idea, saying that they would not get many calves, that they could not or would not "rustle"--that is, they would not get about with the cows--that they would need nursing and feeding and would not stand the climate. —  Ranching, Sport and Travel
  • Sometimes the rustle is so slight that, unless the air is perfectly still, it is scarcely audible; at other times it is a strong wish-wish that can be heard two hundred yards away. —  Ways of Wood Folk
  • He turned the leaves without regard to their rustle, and surveyed piece after piece with a critical eye, while the occasionally peculiar pucker of his lips showed that he was trying special ones, and that just enough sense of decorum remained with him to prevent the whistle from being audible. —  Divers Women
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This word has been looked up 126 times.

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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English rustlen, perhaps of imitative origin.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Formerly also russle; prob. freq. of Swedish rusta, stir, make a noise, variant of Old Swedish ruska, rustle, shake, = Danish ruske, pull, shake, twitch, = Icelandic ruska, shake rudely: see rush. Cf. Icelandic ry¯sla, clatter, as money, and G. ruscheln, freq. of ruschen, rustle. Cf. Anglo-Saxon *hristlan, rustle (in Lye, not authenticated), apparently freq. of hristan, in present participle hristenda (verbal noun hristung), shake, = Icelandic hrista = Danish ryste = Swedish rysta, rista, shake, tremble.
  2. from rustle, v.
 

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/ˈrəsl/
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