rattle — OAT · Shobdo

rattle

verb

1 we were awakened by the sound of stones rattling against the window:

clatter, bang, clang, clank, clink, clunk.

2 he put his hand in his pocket and rattled his small change:

jingle, jangle, clink, tinkle.

3 the bus rattled along the bumpy streets:

jolt, bump, bounce, shake, vibrate, jar;

British judder;

rare jounce.

4 the government were clearly rattled by the campaign:

unnerve, disconcert, disturb, fluster, shake, perturb, discompose, discomfit, discountenance, make nervous, put off, throw off balance, ruffle, agitate, put off one's stroke, upset, frighten, scare;

informal faze, throw, get to.

□ rattle someone's cageinformal

if that corporate caveat really rattled your cage, there's more bad news:

anger, annoy, antagonize, provoke, vex, irritate, offend;

informal aggravate, rile, needle, get someone's back up, make someone's hackles rise, rub up the wrong way, ruffle someone's feathers, get in someone's hair, get someone's dander up, get under someone's skin;

British, informal nark, get on someone's wick, get up someone's nose.

▷antonyms pacify, placate.

□ rattle something off

she rattled off the names of films he had directed:

reel off, recite, list rapidly, fire off, run through, enumerate;

informal spiel off.

□ rattle on (also rattle away)

she found herself rattling on about the meaning of life:

prattle, babble, chatter, gabble, prate, go on, run on, jabber, jibber-jabber, gibber, blether, blather, blither, ramble, maunder, drivel, twitter;

informal gab, yak, yackety-yak, yap, yabber, yatter;

British, informal witter, rabbit, chunter, waffle;

Scottish, & Irish, informal slabber;

North American, informal run off at the mouth;

archaic twaddle, clack, twattle.

noun

1 the rattle of bottles as he stacked the crates:

clatter, clattering, clank, clanking, clink, clinking, clanging;

jingle, jingling, jangle, jangling.

2 there was a choking rattle in his throat:

death rattle;

technical rale.