1. to make or emit a quick succession of short percussive sounds.
2. to move with such sounds: A train rattled along the track.
3. to talk rapidly and at length, usually without much thought: rattled on about this and that.
4. to cause to make a quick succession of short percussive sounds: rattled the dishes in the kitchen.
5. to utter or perform rapidly or effortlessly: rattled off a list of complaints.
6. informal to fluster; unnerve: the accident rattled me. see synonyms at embarrass.
7. A rapid succession of short percussive sounds.
8. A device, such as a baby's toy, that produces short percussive sounds.
9. A rattling sound in the throat caused by obstructed breathing, especially near the time of death.
10. the series of horny structures at the end of a rattlesnake's tail.
11. loud or rapid talk; chatter.
12. to secure ratlines to (shrouds).

1. a sound made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another
2. a baby's toy designed to make sound when shaken, usually containing loose grains or pellets in a hollow container
3. (ergative) to create a sound by shaking.
4. to scare, startle, unsettle, or unnerve.
5. to cause something to make a rattling sound by hitting it.
6. to make a rattling noise; to make noise by or from shaking.

1. A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds.
2. noisy, rapid talk.
3. an instrument with which a rattling sound is made; especially, a child's toy that rattles when shaken.
4. A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer.
5. A scolding; a sharp rebuke.
6. any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a rattling sound.
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 Râle.
8. to make a quick succession of sharp, inharmonious noises, as by the collision of hard and not very sonorous bodies shaken together; to clatter.
9. to drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering.
10. to make a clatter with the voice; to talk rapidly and idly; to clatter; -- with on or away.
11. to cause to make a rattling or clattering sound.
12. to assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise.
13. hence, to disconcert; to confuse
14. to scold; to rail at.

1. to give out a rapid succession of short, sharp, jarring or clattering sounds; clatter, as by continuous concussions.
2. to move or be carried along with a continuous rapid clatter; go or proceed or bear one's self noisily: often used with reference to speed rather than to the accompanying noise.
3. to speak with noisy and rapid utterance; talk rapidly or in a chattering manner: as, to rattle on about trifles.
4. to cause to make a rattling sound or a rapid succession of hard, sharp, or jarring sounds.
5. to utter in sharp, rapid tones; deliver in a smart, rapid manner: as, to rattle off a string of names.
6. to act upon or affect by rattling sounds; startle or stir up by any noisy means.
7. to scold, chide, or rail at noisily; berate clamorously.
8. to shake up, unsettle, or disturb by censure, annoyance, or irritation; bring into an agitated or confused condition.
9. nautical, to furnish with ratlines.
10. A rapid succession of short, sharp, clattering sounds, as of intermitting collision or concussion.
11. A rattling clamor of words; sharp, rapid talk of any kind; hence, sharp scolding or railing.
12. an instrument or toy contrived to make a rattling sound.
13. one who talks rapidly and without moderation or consideration; a noisy, impertinent talker; a jabberer.
14. the crepitaculum of the true rattlesnake, consisting of a series of horny epidermic cells of an undulated pyramidal shape, articulated one within the other at the extremity of the tail. see rattlesnake.
15. an annual herb, Rhinanthus crista-galli, of meadows and pastures in europe and northern asia. it attaches itself by its fibrous roots to the roots of living grasses, etc., thus doing much damage.
16. one of the old world louseworts, Pedicularis palustris, the red rattle.
17. the death-rattle.

1. a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders)
2. make short successive sounds
3. a baby's toy that makes percussive noises when shaken
4. loosely connected horny sections at the end of a rattlesnake's tail
5. shake and cause to make a rattling noise