from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Rattle \Rat"tle\, n.
1. A rapid succession of sharp, clattering sounds; as, the
rattle of a drum. --Prior.
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2. Noisy, rapid talk.
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All this ado about the golden age is but an empty
rattle and frivolous conceit. --Hakewill.
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3. An instrument with which a rattling sound is made;
especially, a child's toy that rattles when shaken.
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The rattles of Isis and the cymbals of Brasilea
nearly enough resemble each other. --Sir W.
Raleigh.
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Pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw. --Pope.
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4. A noisy, senseless talker; a jabberer.
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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.
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5. A scolding; a sharp rebuke. [Obs.] --Heylin.
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6. (Zool.) Any organ of an animal having a structure adapted
to produce a rattling sound.
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Note: 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.
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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 {R[^a]le}.
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{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.
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