Rattle \Rat"tle\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rattled; p. pr. & vb. n. Rattling.]

[Akin to D. ratelen, G. rasseln, AS. hr[ae]tele a rattle, in hr[ae]telwyrt rattlewort; cf. Gr. ? to swing, wave. Cf. Rail a bird.]

1. To make a quick succession of sharp, inharmonious noises, as by the collision of hard and not very sonorous bodies shaken together; to clatter.

And the rude hail in rattling tempest forms. --Addison.

'T was but the wind, Or the car rattling o'er the stony street. --Byron.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)