Home > Antonyms > Antonyms for rattle

Antonyms for rattle

Grammar : Verb
Spell : rat-l
Phonetic Transcription : ˈræt l

Definition of rattle

Origin :
  • c.1300 (intransitive), "To make a quick sharp noise with frequent repetitions and collisions of bodies not very sonorous: when bodies are sonorous, it is called jingling" [Johnson]. Perhaps in Old English but not recorded; if not, from Middle Dutch ratelen, probably of imitative origin (cf. German rasseln "to rattle," Greek kradao "I rattle"). Sense of "utter smartly and rapidly" is late 14c. Meaning "to go along loosely and noisily" is from 1550s. Transitive sense is late 14c.; figurative sense of "fluster" is first recorded 1869. Related: Rattled; rattling.
  • verb bang, jiggle
  • verb talk aimlessly, endlessly
  • verb disconcert, upset someone
Example sentences :
  • He awaited, in an agony of suspense, the rattle of the musketry.
  • Extract from : « The Old Manse (From "Mosses From An Old Manse") » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • All up the Valley the drums' rattle drowned the drone of the locusts in the stubble.
  • Extract from : « In the Valley » by Harold Frederic
  • Now the rattle of a key in the hall-door was startlingly audible.
  • Extract from : « The Black Bag » by Louis Joseph Vance
  • They also held the oxen's yokes, so that nobody or anything could rattle, or make any noise.
  • Extract from : « Welsh Fairy Tales » by William Elliott Griffis
  • Down it went, at all events, with a rattle that might easily have broken the glass.
  • Extract from : « The Room in the Dragon Volant » by J. Sheridan LeFanu
  • There was a clatter and rattle of speeding hoofs, which rapidly died out.
  • Extract from : « The Law-Breakers » by Ridgwell Cullum
  • Then the watching man heard the rattle of a key in the lock.
  • Extract from : « The Law-Breakers » by Ridgwell Cullum
  • A rattle of firearms far off on the other side of the river left it unspoken.
  • Extract from : « The Law-Breakers » by Ridgwell Cullum
  • The rattle of certain snakes is supposed to act as a love-call.
  • Extract from : « The Truth About Woman » by C. Gasquoine Hartley
  • Strings of shells which a visitor could rattle answered for door-bells.
  • Extract from : « Introductory American History » by Henry Eldridge Bourne

Synonyms for rattle

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019