| 释义 |
rattler|ˈrætlə(r)|
[f. rattle v.1 + -er1.]
1.
†a. One who rattles out.
†b. A stutterer. Obs.
c. = rattle n.1 7.
c1449Pecock Repr. i. xvi. 88 He is a greet and thikke rateler out of textis of Holi Scripture. 1483Cath. Angl. 300/2 Ratyller, travlus. 1709W. King Useful Trans. Philos. II. sig. A 2v, Nothing could be more useful than a full..Inspection of Human Tongues... It is hop'd that if any Persons know themselves to be..Tongue-Padds, Spokesmen, Rattlers, Bouncers, &c. they would..bequeath their Tongues to be dissected. 1836T. Hook G. Gurney III. 50 The volatile, gay, agreeable rattler of other days. 1879G. Meredith Egoist xxxix, We have only to sharpen our wits to trip your seductive rattler whenever..we think proper. 1959She May 21/3 Rattler, great talker.
2. a. A thing which rattles; † a rattle.
1594Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. G.'s Wks. (Grosart) XIV. 35 Her working-day words..be ratlers like thunder, sir. 1648Gage West Ind. xxi. (1655) 202 The noise of Bels and ratlers to rouse up the drowsie Fryers. 1654Gayton Pleas. Notes iii. xi. 146 The murmurer, (The silver rattler on the gravelly path). 1822Scott Pirate viii, With slugs..never gun shot closer... But..the old rattler will never do you the service she has done me.
b. slang. A (rattling) coach. gen., any (rattling) form of transport, esp. a train.
1630J. Taylor (Water P.) [N.] If our hackney ratlers were so drawne, With cords, or ropes, or halters. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rattler, a Coach. 1753Disc. John Poulter (ed. 2) 34 Go three or four Miles out of Town to meet the Rattlers, that is Coaches. 1819Sporting Mag. V. 123 The lads in their rattlers, heavy drags, and tumblers. 1825[see hackney n. 6 c]. 1829P. Egan Boxiana 2nd Ser. II. 674 Boscoe made his appearance in a rattler, with four prime prads. 1871Lakeside Monthly Oct. 323/1, I am going on the rattlers tomorrow to nick a lot of flats and molls. 1903A. M. Binstead Pitcher in Paradise viii. 193 On the followin' Saturday afternoon I took the rattler down to Aldershot. 1904‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing 252/1 Rattler, a car. 1922R. Parrish Case & Girl 333 We caught another rattler two hours later, and got off at Patacne. 1924D. H. Lawrence England, my England 102 Miss Stokes had a puncture. ‘Let me wheel the rattler,’ said Albert. 1936I. L. Idriess Cattle King xli. 348 ‘Well, sir, for last year you certainly paid your fare on the railways.’ ‘I've never jumped the ‘rattler’ in my life.’ 1951Collier's 17 Nov. 8/2 We're rolling across the country in a very luxurious rattler. 1966‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse II. 88 Rattler, a tram or street-car. 1977‘J. Fraser’ Hearts Ease v. 38 ‘Where's the ambulance?’ ‘We sent it away... The first one was an old rattler. We've sent for the Daimler which has better springing.’
c. orig. U.S. A rattlesnake.
1827J. F. Cooper Prairie I. xvii. 249 The snakes of the prairies are harmless, unless it be now and then an angered rattler. 1884J. G. Bourke Snake Dance Moquis xiii. 147 he was holding in his hand the biggest snake in the whole collection, a rattler not less than five feet long. 1909Chambers's Jrnl. July 431/2 Many of the little snakes of the tropics are as poisonous as the dreaded rattler. 1918W. Cather My Antonia i. ii. 17 She had killed a good many rattlers. 1949G. B. Shaw Buoyant Billions iv. 48 You cannot charm the rattlers and gaters as I can. 1956L. M. Klauber Rattlesnakes I. i. 11 Some believe any snake that vibrates its tail when angry or alarmed to be a rattler. 1963D. P. Mannix All Creatures Great & Small xi. 190 A friend sent me a very fine Mexican green rattler nearly six feet long. 1978P. Theroux Picture Palace ii. 8, I was moving round the room, hunched like a cowboy that hears a rattler.
3. a. A sharp or severe blow, fall, storm, etc.
1812Sporting Mag. XL. 66 Receiving a rattler in the neck. 1827Ibid. (N.S.) XXI. 145 He got one rattler when I was in the country. 1835T. Power Jrnl. 25 Mar. in Impressions Amer. (1836) ii. 266 Our breeze freshened gradually all the evening, until by midnight it blew a rattler. 1858Adm. Hornby in Autobiog. (1896) 60 In the first watch we got a rattler, only got the fore- and mizzen-top sails in in time to save them. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. viii, I should have given him a rattler for himself, if Mrs. Boffin hadn't thrown herself betwixt us.
b. A remarkably good horse. Also gen., anyone or anything remarkably good or able, esp. with regard to speed.
1841Lytton Night & Morning ii. viii, I want a good horse... Now then, out with your rattlers. 1853F. Gale Public School Matches 13 The first ball is well pitched and comes in a rattler to the middle stump. 1860G. J. Whyte-Melville Mkt. Harb. 127 If he can only jump..and get pretty quick over his fences, he ought to be a rattler. 1883‘Mark Twain’ Life on Mississippi xxiv. 271 That ‘Cyclone’ was a rattler to go, and the sweetest thing to steer that ever walked the waters. 1886M. Thompson Banker of Bankersville ix. 134 Your partner is a whole team, hain't he? He's a rattler! 1894‘Mark Twain’ in St. Nicholas Mar. 395 It was a rattler, that caravan, and a mighty fine sight to look at. 1917H. Garland Son of Middle Border xxiv. 290 You may consider yourself hired for as long as you please to stay. You're a rattler.
c. dial. An arrant lie. (Cf. rapper 3 a.)
1829in Brockett. 1847–in Halliwell, etc.
d. A long, resounding word.
1865‘Mark Twain’ in Californian 18 Mar. 8/1 One of them rattlers with a clatter of syllables as long as a string of sluice boxes.
4. techn.
a. A hard, brittle, jet-like coal, usually lying on the top of seams. Also pl.
1821Curwen in Gill's Tech. Repository (1822) I. 210 Rattler, which is a mixture of coal and schistus. Ibid., Rattler does not fall, and is very light in comparison to its bulk. 1883Gresley Gloss. Coal-mining 200.
b. A razor with a very thin blade. Also attrib.
1829in Brockett. 1846Holtzapffel Turning III. 1149 From the vibration to which they are liable when applied to a strong beard, they are called by the Sheffield cutlers, rattler razors.
5. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 2 c) rattler hatband; rattler-jumper, one who jumps (jump v. 6 b) a train; so rattler-jumping vbl. n.
1978Detroit Free Press 5 Mar. 23/1 ‘One day when we were in a local shop, the owner remarked that he would pay $10 for a rattler hatband.’ That casual remark launched the couple into a business.
1934Bulletin (Sydney) 7 Mar. 33/2 It looks as though the Queensland Government will have to run special trains to cope with ‘rattler’-jumpers, who nowadays travel in packs.
1933Ibid. 3 May 20/1 Of all vocations rattler-jumping is the least easy. |