rattletrap
rattletrap adjective: mechanically unreliable or in disrepair.
Adjective
rattletrap (not comparable)
- Mechanically unreliable or in disrepair.
- All services for the biggest embassy in the world will operate independently from the rattletrap utilities of the Iraqi capital. (speaking of the new US Embassy in Baghdad)2006, Paul McGeough, Bush 'palace' shielded from Iraqi storm, theage.com.au, August 26, http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/bush-palace-shielded-from-iraqi-storm/2006/08/25/1156012740594.html
- Every cultural instinct and previous experience tells you that when you travel this far you should find, at the very least, people on camels. There should be unrecognizable lettering on the signs, and swarthy men in robes drinking coffee from thimble-sized cups and puffing on hookahs, and...2000, Bill Bryson, In a Sunburned Country, page 10
Noun
rattletrap (plural rattletraps)
- A mechanical device, particularly an automobile, that is worn out, run down, or mechanically unreliable as indicated by noises it makes in operation.
- Mom always worried about our safety in my friend's rattletrap. I told her not to worry, as it can't go fast enough to be dangerous.
- Synonyms:
- banger, bucket of bolts, beater, bucket of rust, clunker, crate, crock, flivver, gas guzzler, hooptie
- Any piece of miscellaneous equipment or junk.
- And they tumbled about the rattletraps under the cupboard, and rummaged the drawers in search of the sacred volume.1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard
- A type of noisemaker in which the teeth of a gear repeatedly bend and release a stiff tongue.
- A person's mouth.
- Shut your rattletrap!
rattletrap meaning in Tamil
rattletrap in Tamil
- ஆட்டங்காணும் வண்டி, ஓட்டை உடைசல்களுடன் ஆட்டங்காணுகிற
Synonyms of rattletrap
14 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of rattletrap
| plural | rattletraps |
|---|
Origin of rattletrap
From rattle + trap.
Questions about rattletrap
- What does rattletrap mean?
- Rattletrap means mechanically unreliable or in disrepair.
- What is rattletrap in Tamil?
- Rattletrap in Tamil is ஆட்டங்காணும் வண்டி, ஓட்டை உடைசல்களுடன் ஆட்டங்காணுகிற. See Rattletrap meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is rattletrap?
- Rattletrap can be an adjective or a noun.
Words near rattletrap in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: rattletrap (page history and authors); rattletrap (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-rattletrap.ogg.
Cite this entry: “rattletrap.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/rattletrap. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.