▪ I. bustle, n.1
(ˈbʌs(ə)l)
Also 7–8 bussle.
[f. bustle v.1]
1. Activity with excitement, noise, and commotion; stir, tumult, disturbance, fuss, ado.
| 1634 Milton Comus 379 Feathers..That, in the various bustle of resort, Were all to-ruffled. 1692 Locke Educ. §167 (1880) 143 All his Bustle and Pother will be to little or no purpose. 1733 Fielding Intr. Chamberm. i. x, What was the occasion of this bustle? 1758 Johnson Idler No. 19 ¶3 Many..pass their lives..in bustle without business. 1822 Byron Juan viii. xxxix, He..could be very busy without bustle. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxix. (1856) 249 In the bustle of preparation. 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 266 The bustle and turmoil..grow to a climax at four o'clock. |
b. transf. The agitation or ‘working’ in the process of fermentation.
| 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 128 Fermentation or bustle of the vvorking or leavening particles. 1713 Lond. & Countr. Brew. iv. (1743) 331 Now the greater the Vessel is, the more Parts may arise and sink down; and..the more must be the Bustle. |
2. The commotion of conflict; concr. a conflict, struggle, scuffle, fray. arch.
| 1622–62 Heylin Cosmogr. ii. (1682) 188 The Bustle betwixt Athens and Lacedæmon. 1678 Butler Hud. iii. iii. 363 Caligula..Engag'd his Legions in fierce Bustles, With Periwinkles, Prawns and Muscles. 1693 Luttrell Brief Rel. (1857) III. 51 Divers were killed in the bustle. 1721 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 286 We had a small bustle with some of the..troops of horse. 1769 Junius Lett. xxx. 136 His escape he attempts..a bustle ensues. 1865 Kingsley Herew. xli. (1877) 503 There was a bustle, a heavy fall. |
3. Thieves' cant. (See quots.)
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Bustle, a cant term for money. Ibid. s.v. Bustle, Any object effected very suddenly, or in a hurry, is said to be done upon the bustle. 1830 Lytton P. Clifford 56 He who surreptitiously accumulates bustle, is, in fact, nothing better than a buzz gloak. |
▪ II. ˈbustle, n.2
[Perh. the same word as prec.: in the earlier examples it seems to denote rather the projecting portion of the dress itself than the means employed to produce the projection; cf. quot. 1826 in bustling ppl. a.]
A stuffed pad or cushion, or small wire framework, worn beneath the skirt of a woman's dress, for the purpose of expanding and supporting it behind; a ‘dress-improver’.
| 1788 T. Monro in Olla Podrida No. 40 Such locks the nymphs now wear (in silks who rustle,) In rich luxuriance reaching to the bustle. 1830 Miss Mitford Village Ser. iv. (1863) 177 A waist like a wasp, a magnificent bustle, and petticoats..puffed out round the bottom. 1838 New Month. Mag. LIV. 207 It caught the bustle—the projecting mass of muslin, silk, or cotton, as might be. 1865 Daily Tel. 12 Apr. 7 Originally the ‘bustle’ was merely a species of pillow, which was tied round the waist. |
▪ III. bustle, v.1
(ˈbʌs(ə)l)
Forms: 4 bustelen, 6 bustel, bussel, 6–7 bussle, bussell, 7 busle, 6– bustle.
[ME. bustelen, used (once only) by Langland, is perh. onomatopœic, suggested by bluster and by the sound of the alliterative words in the line. The mod. verb differs in sense, and has not been found earlier than the middle of the 16th c.; possibly it may be a phonetic variant of buskle, from which in early use it is scarcely distinguishable in sense; cf. also hustle, rustle, etc. The resemblance in sound to mod.Icel. bustl a splash, as of a fish in water, að bustla to make a splash, to bustle, is noteworthy, but evidence of historical connexion is wanting.]
I. in ME.
† 1. intr. ? To wander blindly or stupidly; = bluster v. 1. Obs. rare—1.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vi. 4 Ther were fewe men so wys that couthe the wei thider, Bote bustelyng [1377 B. v. 521 blustreden; 1393 C. viii. 159 blostrede] forþ as bestes ouer valeyes and hulles. |
II. The mod. word.
2. a. intr. To bestir oneself or display activity with a certain amount of noise or agitation, to be fussily active: usually implying excessive or obtrusive show of energy. Often with advs. about, along, up and down. (Cf. buskle v. 2, 3.)
| 1580 North Plutarch 123 Some..for fear to be taken tardy did bustle up at this noise. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. i. 152 God..leaue the world for me to bussle in. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. ii. iii. vi. (1651) 349, I was once..mad to bussell abroad. 1628 Wither Brit. Rememb. ii. 1759 How they trudg'd, and busled up and downe. 1632 Sanderson Serm. I. 312 Many servants..will..bustle at it..so long as their masters eye is upon them. 1633 Bp. Hall Hard Texts 315 All shall be glad to bustle into armes for their defence. 1672 Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.) Rehearsal v. i. 113 Busie, busie, busie, busie, we bustle along. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 6 ¶6 The good Man bustled through the Crowd. 1781 Cowper Convers. 215 We bustle up with unsuccessful speed. 1818 Byron Juan i. clix, Antonia bustled round the ransack'd room. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xxxix, Get up, and bustle about. 1844 Kingsley Lett. (1878) I. 122 We bustle and God works. 1857 Emerson Poems 37 Let the great world bustle on. |
b. as imp. = Bestir yourself! Make haste!
| 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, v. iii. 289 Come, bustle, bustle. Caparison my horse. 1822 Byron Werner i. i. 258 What, ho, there! bustle! 1837 Dickens Pickw. vi, ‘Bustle’, said the old gentleman. 1869 Ld. Lytton Orval 98 Run to the Apothecary! Bustle, wench! |
† c. To come down with commotion. Obs.
| a 1611 Chapman Iliad xii. 369 Down he bustled like an oak..Hewn down for shipwood. |
d. Of a place: to be full of activity or bustle; to be alive with.
| 1880 All Year Round 9 Oct. 514 Transports..bustling with sailors. 1905 F. Treves Other Side of Lantern x. 85 Those who walk along its empty terraces..see it as it was when it bustled with men and women three centuries ago. |
† 3. intr. To struggle, scuffle, contend; to elbow one's way through a crowd. to bustle it out: = to fight it out. Obs. (Cf. hustle.)
| c 1600 Timon iii. i. (1842) 42 The foure windes doe bussle in my heade. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 261 Edward the Third..and Philip Valois bustled for the very kingdome of France. 1647 W. Browne Polex. ii. 321 'Tis in vaine..to bustle with my resolution. 1712 Arbuthnot John Bull (1755) 52 Peg's lads bustled pretty hard for that. |
4. trans. and refl. To bestir, stir, rouse: also with up. Now rare.
| 1579 A. Munday in Arb. Garner V. 209 Bustling themselves to dress up the galleys. 1584 Lyly Campaspe iv. i, My master bustels himself to flie. 1610 Histriom. vi. 251 Bustle up Your drouping spirits. 1880 Daily Tel. 12 Oct., We spend a couple of hours in bustling up the denizens of the big wood. |
5. trans. (and refl.) a. To cause to move precipitately and in disorder; to hurry (a person or thing) in a fussy or over-energetic manner. Const. with preps. or advs. b. To make (hot, etc.) by bustling.
| 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. III. 771 The Bishop..bustleth himself with all speed possible to the Church. 1833 Blackw. Mag. XXXIII. 281 A man who bustled himself into importance with the mob. 1849 Ibid. LXV. 695 Old Thomas had to bustle on his coat. 1855 Kingsley Westw. Ho ii, The churchwardens and sidesmen..have bustled themselves hot and red. Ibid. v. 92 The jolly old man bustled them out of the house. 1883 Standard 8 Sept., If a stroke oar spurted at every two hundred yards, and then eased when he was striking fast, he would ‘bustle’ his men into utter confusion. |
▪ IV. ˈbustle, v.2 rare.
[f. bustle n.2]
intr. To stick out, project, as if supported by a bustle.
| 1853 Dickens Lett. (1881) III. 157 A clinging flounced black silk dress, which wouldn't drape, or bustle, or fall. |