From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Rattle \Rat"tle\ (r[a^]t"t'l), v. t.
1. To cause to make a rattling or clattering sound; as, to
rattle a chain.
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2. To assail, annoy, or stun with a rattling noise.
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Sound but another [drum], and another shall
As loud as thine rattle the welkin's ear. --Shak.
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3. Hence, to disconcert; to confuse; as, to rattle one's
judgment; to rattle a player in a game. [Colloq.]
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4. To scold; to rail at. --L'Estrange.
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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.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
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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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Rattle \Rat"tle\ (r[a^]t"t'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rattled
(-t'ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Rattling (-tl[i^]ng).] [Akin to D.
ratelen, G. rasseln, AS. hr[ae]tele a rattle, in
hr[ae]telwyrt 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.
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And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms.
--Addison.
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'T was but the wind,
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street. --Byron.
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2. To drive or ride briskly, so as to make a clattering; as,
we rattled along for a couple of miles. [Colloq.]
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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.]
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From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
rattle
n 1: a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with
a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders); "the
death rattle" [syn: 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
v 1: make short successive sounds
2: shake and cause to make a rattling noise