RUSTLING

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does rustling mean? 

• RUSTLING (noun)
  The noun RUSTLING has 2 senses:

1. the stealing of cattle

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

  Familiarity information: RUSTLING used as a noun is rare.

• RUSTLING (adjective)
  The adjective RUSTLING has 1 sense:

1. characterized by soft sounds

  Familiarity information: RUSTLING used as an adjective is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RUSTLING (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The stealing of cattle

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

larceny; stealing; theft; thievery; thieving (the act of taking something from someone unlawfully)

Derivation:

rustle (take illegally)

Sense 2

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 ("rustling" is a kind of...):

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

Derivation:

rustle (make a dry crackling sound)

• RUSTLING (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Characterized by soft sounds

Synonyms:

murmurous; rustling; soughing; susurrous

Context example:

a slow sad susurrous rustle like the wind fingering the pines

Similar:

soft ((of sound) relatively low in volume)

 Context examples 

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

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

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

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

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

(The Lost World, 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)

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

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

She is rather long, notwithstanding; but by and by I hear a rustling at the door, and someone taps.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Some years ago, when the images which this world affords first opened upon me, when I felt the cheering warmth of summer and heard the rustling of the leaves and the warbling of the birds, and these were all to me, I should have wept to die; now it is my only consolation.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The sun had just set, the sea breeze was rustling and tumbling in the woods and ruffling the grey surface of the anchorage; the tide, too, was far out, and great tracts of sand lay uncovered; the air, after the heat of the day, chilled me through my jacket.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The autumn sun streamed down as brightly as ever, and the peaceful red path still wound in front of them through the rustling, yellow-tinted forest, Nature seemed to be too busy with her own concerns to heed the dignity of an outraged pontiff.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"What is all this?" demanded another voice peremptorily; and Mrs. Reed came along the corridor, her cap flying wide, her gown rustling stormily.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)