RUSTLE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does rustle mean? 

• RUSTLE (noun)
  The noun RUSTLE has 1 sense:

1. a light noise, like the noise of silk clothing or leaves blowing in the wind

  Familiarity information: RUSTLE used as a noun is very rare.

• RUSTLE (verb)
  The verb RUSTLE has 3 senses:

1. make a dry crackling sound

2. take illegally

3. forage food

  Familiarity information: RUSTLE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUSTLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A light noise, like the noise of silk clothing or leaves blowing in the wind

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

rustle; rustling; whisper; whispering

Hypernyms ("rustle" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Derivation:

rustle (make a dry crackling sound)

• RUSTLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they rustle    ... he / she / it rustles   
Past simple: rustled   
Past participle: rustled   
-ing form: rustling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a dry crackling sound

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Context example:

the dry leaves were rustling in the breeze

Hypernyms (to "rustle" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

You can hear animals rustle in the meadows
The meadows rustle with animals

Derivation:

rustle; rustling (a light noise, like the noise of silk clothing or leaves blowing in the wind)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Take illegally

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

lift; rustle

Context example:

rustle cattle

Hypernyms (to "rustle" is one way to...):

rip; rip off; steal (take without the owner's consent)

Domain category:

crime; criminal offence; criminal offense; law-breaking ((criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They rustle the animals

Derivation:

rustler (someone who steals livestock (especially cattle))

rustling (the stealing of cattle)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Forage food

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "rustle" is one way to...):

forage; scrounge (collect or look around for (food))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

I heard the rustle of actual movement where I had first seen the white figure, and coming over, found the Professor holding in his arms a tiny child.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

If I talked to Steerforth in his room, I heard her dress rustle in the little gallery outside.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

But he heard a rustling in the branches, and a golden apple fell into his hand.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

There was an uneasy rustling, as if it were crawling slowly forward.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"It gets late," said Mrs. Fairfax, entering in rustling state.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

There was a rustle among the bowmen, but when Sir Nigel looked up at them no man stood forward from his fellows, but the four lines of men stretched unbroken as before.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then a key clicked in a lock, and I heard the rustle of papers.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There was a rustling, as if he had shaken the sick man roughly by the shoulder.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A pleasant old garden on the borders of the lovely lake, with chestnuts rustling overhead, ivy climbing everywhere, and the black shadow of the tower falling far across the sunny water.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Crickets sang in the nights, and in the days all manner of creeping, crawling things rustled forth into the sun.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)