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bustle

noun
/ˈbʌsəl/

Etymology

From Middle English bustlen, bustelen, bostlen, perhaps an alteration of *busklen (> Modern English buskle), a frequentative of Middle English busken (“to prepare; make ready”), from Old Norse búask (“to prepare oneself”); or alternatively from a frequentative form of Middle English busten, bisten (“to buffet; pummel; dash; beat”) + -le. Compare also Icelandic bustla (“to splash; bustle”).

  1. derived from busten
  2. derived from búa — “to prepare oneself”
  3. derived from busken — “to prepare; make ready”
  4. inherited from bustlen

Definitions

  1. An excited activity

    An excited activity; a stir.

    • the whirl and bustle of a large metropolis
    • we are, perhaps, all the while flattering our natural indolence, which, hating the bustle of the world, and drudgery of business seeks a pretence of reason to give itself a full and uncontrolled indulgence.

  2. A cover to protect and hide the back panel of a computer or other office machine.

  3. A frame worn underneath a woman's skirt, typically only protruding from the rear as…

    A frame worn underneath a woman's skirt, typically only protruding from the rear as opposed to the earlier more circular hoops.

  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. Money

      Money; cash.

      • Why the old clerical's turned coper—a new way of raising the wind——letting his friends down easy—gave you a good dinner, I suppose, Sir John, and took this method of drawing the bustle for it: an old trick of the reverend's.

    2. To move busily and energetically with fussiness (often followed by about).

      • The commuters bustled about inside the train station.
      • I was once so mad to bussell abroad, and seek about for preferment […].

    3. To teem or abound (usually followed by with)

      To teem or abound (usually followed by with); to exhibit an energetic and active abundance (of a thing).

      • The train station was bustling with commuters.

    4. To push around, to importune.

      • Don’t bustle her or fuss or snatch: / A suitor looking at his watch / Is not a posture that persuades / Willing, much less reluctant maids.

    5. A surname from German.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for bustle. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA