Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Animated; brisk.
  • adverb Used as an intensive.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of making a rattle, clatter, or continuous jarring noise.
  • noun The act of berating or railing at or otherwise assailing or attacking: as, to give one a rattling.
  • Making or adapted for making a rattle; hence, smart; sharp; lively in action, movement, or manners: as, a rattling rider; rattling pace; a rattling game; a rattling girl.
  • Bewilderingly large or conspicuous: as, rattling stakes or bets.
  • noun A corruption of ratline.
  • Extremely; ‘stunning’: as, a rattling good speech.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective lively, quick (speech, pace)
  • noun rattle (a sound made by loose objects shaking or vibrating against one another)
  • noun nautical Alternative form of ratline.
  • verb Present participle of rattle.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb used as intensifiers; `real' is sometimes used informally for `really'; `rattling' is informal
  • noun a rapid series of short loud sounds (as might be heard with a stethoscope in some types of respiratory disorders)
  • adjective quick and energetic
  • adjective extraordinarily good or great ; used especially as intensifiers

Etymologies

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  • n. nautical, rfdef This word needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text }. --from the definitions. It's been reported to Feedbag.

    January 2, 2013