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Verb: rattle  ra-t(u)l
  1. Make short successive sounds
     
  2. Shake and cause to make a rattling noise
     
  3. [informal] Disturb the composure of
    "Good, it shouldn't rattle him at all";
    - faze, unnerve, enervate, unsettle
Noun: rattle  ra-t(u)l
  1. A rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders)
    "the death rattle";
    - rattling, rale
     
  2. A baby's toy that makes percussive noises when shaken
     
  3. Loosely connected horny sections at the end of a rattlesnake's tail

Derived forms: rattled, rattling, rattles

See also: rattle on [informal], roll off

Type of: agitate, discomfit, discompose, disconcert, go, noise, plaything, shake, sound, tail, toy, untune, upset

Part of: rattler [N. Amer, informal], rattlesnake

Encyclopedia: Rattle, Derbyshire