Rattle

rat′l, v.i. to clatter: to move along rapidly, with a clattering noise: to speak eagerly and noisily.— v.t. to cause to make a clatter: to stun with noise: to speak rapidly: to scold loudly.— n. a sharp noise rapidly repeated, as the death-rattle: a clatter: loud empty talk: loud scolding: a toy or instrument for rattling: a brisk jabberer: an annual meadow herb: a lousewort.— adjs. Ratt′le-brained , -head′ed , -pat′ed , noisy: giddy: unsteady.— ns. Ratt′le-mouse , a bat; Ratt′lepate , a noisy chatterer; Ratt′ler , a loud, inconsiderate talker: ( coll. ) a stunning blow: ( coll. ) an impudent lie; Ratt′lesnake , a poisonous snake having a number of hard, bony rings loosely jointed at the end of the tail, which make a rattling noise; Ratt′lesnake-gra , an American gra ; Ratt′lesnake-mas′ter , -root , an American plant reputed to cure the bite of a rattlesnake; Ratt′lesnake-weed , a hawk-weed of the United States; Ratt′le-trap , a rickety vehicle; Ratt′lewort , a plant of genus Crotalaria ; Ratt′ling , a clattering: railing.— adj. making a rattle: smart, lively: ( coll. ) strikingly great. [A.S. hrætele , hratele , a plant—from the rattling of the seeds in the capsules; Ger. ra eln , Dut. ratelen , to rattle.]