rattler

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rat·tler

(răt′lər)

1. One that rattles: a rattler of pots and pans.

2. A rattlesnake.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

rattler

(ˈrætlə)

1. something that rattles

2. (Animals) chiefly US and Canadian an informal name for rattlesnake

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

rat•tler

(ˈræt lər)

n.

1. a rattlesnake.

2. one that rattles.

[1400–50]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	rattler - pit viper with horny segments at the end of the tail that rattle when shaken rattlesnake Crotalidae, family Crotalidae - New World vipers: pit vipers pit viper - New World vipers with hollow fangs and a heat-sensitive pit on each side of the head rattle - loosely connected horny sections at the end of a rattlesnake's tail Crotalus adamanteus, diamondback, diamondback rattlesnake - large deadly rattlesnake with diamond-shaped markings banded rattlesnake, Crotalus horridus horridus, timber rattlesnake - widely distributed in rugged ground of eastern United States Crotalus viridis, prairie rattler, prairie rattlesnake, Western rattlesnake - widely distributed between the Mississippi and the Rockies Crotalus cerastes, horned rattlesnake, sidewinder - small pale-colored desert rattlesnake of southwestern United States; body moves in an s-shaped curve Crotalus atrox, Western diamondback, Western diamondback rattlesnake - largest and most dangerous North American snake; of southwestern United States and Mexico Crotalus lepidus, rock rattlesnake - mountain rock dweller of Mexico and most southern parts of United States southwest Crotalus tigris, tiger rattlesnake - having irregularly cross-banded back; of arid foothills and canyons of southern Arizona and Mexico Crotalus scutulatus, Mojave rattlesnake - extremely dangerous; most common in areas of scattered scrubby growth; from Mojave Desert to western Texas and into Mexico Crotalus mitchellii, speckled rattlesnake - markings vary but usually harmonize with background; of southwestern Arizona and Baja California massasauga rattler, Sistrurus catenatus, massasauga - pygmy rattlesnake found in moist areas from the Great Lakes to Mexico; feeds on mice and small amphibians ground rattler, massasauga, Sistrurus miliaris - small pygmy rattlesnake
	2.	rattler - a railroad train consisting of freight cars freight train cabin car, caboose - a car on a freight train for use of the train crew; usually the last car on the train freight car - a railway car that carries freight freight liner, liner train - a long-distance express freight train between industrial centers and seaports with facilities for rapid loading and unloading of goods railroad train, train - public transport provided by a line of railway cars coupled together and drawn by a locomotive; "express trains don't stop at Princeton Junction"

Translations

chiassone macinino [auto scassata]schiamazzatore

rattler

[ˈrætlə^r] n (US) (= rattlesnake) → serpent m à sonnettes

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

rattler

n (US inf) → Klapperschlange f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

References in classic literature ?

I must never go to the garden without a heavy stick or a corn-knife; she had killed a good many rattlers on her way back and forth.

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Just the same, all Bosco's rattlers had the poison-sacs cut outa them.

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He was not one of your gay rattlers. Besides, there was something about this girl which confused him to an extraordinary extent.

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"You must have Meg saddled for me and brought to the door at half- past eleven, and I shall want Rattler saddled for Pym at the same time.

There was not another mount in the stable for himself and his servant besides Meg and Rattler. It was vexatious; just when he wanted to get out of the way for a week or two.

So the twelve o'clock sun saw him galloping towards Norburne; and by good fortune Halsell Common lay in his road and gave him some fine leaps for Rattler. Nothing like "taking" a few bushes and ditches for exorcising a demon; and it is really astonishing that the Centaurs, with their immense advantages in this way, have left so bad a reputation in history.

After this, you will perhaps be surprised to hear that although Gawaine was at home, the hand of the dial in the courtyard had scarcely cleared the last stroke of three when Arthur returned through the entrance-gates, got down from the panting Rattler, and went into the house to take a hasty luncheon.

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But not content with this good deed, the indefatigable house again bestirred itself: Samuel and all his Sons --how many, their mother only knows --and under their immediate auspices, and partly, I think, at their expense, the British government was induced to send the sloop-of-war Rattler on a whaling voyage of discovery into the South Sea.

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With the quickness of a striking rattler he launched himself full upon Sabor's back, his strong young arms seeking and gaining a full-Nelson upon the beast, as he had learned it that other day during his bloody, wrestling victory over Terkoz.

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The snakes of the prairies are harmless, unless it be now and then an angered rattler and he always gives you notice with his tail, afore he works his mischief with his fangs.

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Let him go--let him go; 'tis but one man, and he without rifle or bow, many a long mile from his French commerades; and like a rattler that lost his fangs, he can do no further mischief, until such time as he, and we too, may leave the prints of our moccasins over a long reach of sandy plain.

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And once, when he did this in a manner that amounted to personal, I should have given him a rattler for himself, if Mrs Boffin hadn't thrown herself betwixt us, and received flush on the temple.