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rattletrap

adj

Etymology

From rattle + trap.

  1. derived from *drebʰ-✻ — “to step, trip, trample”
  2. derived from *trapjaną✻ — “to tread, stamp”
  3. derived from *trappjan✻ — “to step”
  4. inherited from *trappjā✻ — “trap, snare”
  5. inherited from træppe
  6. inherited from trappe
  7. compounded as rattletrap — “rattle + trap”

Definitions

  1. Mechanically unreliable or in disrepair.

    • BLANCHE:What you are talking about is brutal desire--just--Desire!--the name of that rattle-trap streetcar that bangs through the Quarter, up one old narrow street and down another...

  2. A mechanical device, particularly an automobile, that is worn out, run down, or…

    A mechanical device, particularly an automobile, that is worn out, run down, or mechanically unreliable as indicated by noises it makes in operation.

    • Mom always worried about our safety in my friend's rattletrap. I told her not to worry, as it can't go fast enough to be dangerous.

  3. Any piece of miscellaneous equipment or junk.

    • And they tumbled about the rattletraps under the cupboard, and rummaged the drawers in search of the sacred volume.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. A type of noisemaker in which the teeth of a gear repeatedly bend and release a stiff…

      A type of noisemaker in which the teeth of a gear repeatedly bend and release a stiff tongue.

    2. A person's mouth.

      • Shut your rattletrap!

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for rattletrap. 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