rattling

1. 1.

   a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders)

   “the death rattle”

   Synonymsrattlerale

   Broadernoise

   Narrowercrepitation rale

1. 1.

   used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal

   “she was very gifted”

   “he played very well”

   “a really enjoyable evening”

   “I'm real sorry about it”

   “a rattling good yarn”

   Synonymsveryreallyreal

Other forms of rattling

plural

rattlings·

comparative

rattlinger·

superlative

rattlingest·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about rattling

What does rattling mean?

rattling means "extraordinarily good or great; used especially as intensifiers". That is the primary sense; the word has 4 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in rattling?

rattling has 2 syllables: ratt-ling. The stress falls on "ratt". In IPA it is /ˈɹætlɪŋ/.

What is another word for rattling?

Close synonyms include fantastic, grand, howling, marvelous, marvellous. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is rattling a common word?

rattling is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.