v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Rattled p. pr. & vb. n. Rattling ] [ Akin to D. ratelen, G. rasseln, AS. hrætele a rattle, in hrætelwyrt rattlewort; cf. Gr. kradai`nein to swing, wave. Cf. Rail a bird. ] 1. To make a quick succession of sharp, inharmonious noises, as by the collision of hard and not very sonorous bodies shaken together; to clatter. [ 1913 Webster ]

And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

'T was but the wind,
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering; as, we rattled along for a couple of miles. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To make a clatter with the voice; to talk rapidly and idly; to clatter; -- with on or away; as, she rattled on for an hour. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the rattle of a drum. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Noisy, rapid talk. [ 1913 Webster ]

All this ado about the golden age is but an empty rattle and frivolous conceit. Hakewill. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. An instrument with which a rattling sound is made; especially, a child's toy that rattles when shaken. [ 1913 Webster ]

The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea nearly enough resemble each other. Sir W. Raleigh. [ 1913 Webster ]

Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer. [ 1913 Webster ]

It may seem strange that a man who wrote with so much perspicuity, vivacity, and grace, should have been, whenever he took a part in conversation, an empty, noisy, blundering rattle. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A scolding; a sharp rebuke. [ Obs. ] Heylin. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Zool.) Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted to produce a rattling sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The rattle of a rattlesnake is composed of the hardened terminal scales, loosened in succession, but not cast off, and so modified in form as to make a series of loose, hollow joints. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

To spring a rattle, to cause it to sound. --
Yellow rattle (Bot.), a yellow-flowered herb (Rhinanthus Crista-galli), the ripe seeds of which rattle in the inflated calyx. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To cause to make a rattling or clattering sound; as, to rattle a chain. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sound but another [ drum ], and another shall
As loud as thine rattle the welkin's ear. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence, to disconcert; to confuse; as, to rattle one's judgment; to rattle a player in a game. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To scold; to rail at. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

To rattle off. (a) To tell glibly or noisily; as, to rattle off a story. (b) To rail at; to scold. “She would sometimes rattle off her servants sharply.” Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A toy that makes a rattling sound; a rattle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Bot.) (a) An American herb (Crotalaria sagittalis), the seeds of which, when ripe, rattle in the inflated pod. (b) Any species of Crotalaria, a genus of yellow-flowered herbs, with inflated, many-seeded pods. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Giddy; rattle-headed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. An empty, noisy talker. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Noisy; giddy; unsteady. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A bat. [ Obs. ] Puttenham. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A rattlehead. C. Kingsley. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Rattle-headed. “A noisy, rattle-pated fellow.” W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]