▪ I. rusty, a.1
(ˈrʌstɪ)
Forms: α. 1 rustiᵹ, 4–6 rustye, 6–7 rustie, 4– rusty. β. (Chiefly north. and Sc.) 4 rousti, 5–6 roustie, 5–6, 8–9 rousty; 7 rowstie, 7–8 rowsty; 9 roosty.
[OE. r{uacu}stiᵹ (f. r{uacu}st rust n.1), = Fris. rûst-, roastich, MDu. roestich (rostich; Du. roestig), OHG. rostag (MHG. rostic, G. rostig); also MDa. rustich, later rustig, r{obar}stig.
In the 16th and 17th centuries frequently used as a term of general disparagement.]
I. 1. Covered or affected with rust or red oxide of iron; rusted.
| α c 893 K. ælfred Oros. v. xv. 250 Þa wurdon Ianes dura fæste betyned, & his loca rusteᵹa. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 618 By his syde he bar a rusty blade. 1390 Gower Conf. III. 321 He out breide A rusti swerd. c 1440 Jacob's Well 233 Þou..seruyst, & worschepyst..þe world, þi rusty monye, þi rotyn muk. 1481 Caxton Godfrey cxxvii. 191 Their swerdes rusty, their gownes..were old and roten. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon liv. 182 He..toke out of his cofer an olde rusty swerde..& spere with a rusty hed. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. v. 20 Coleblacke steedes..That on their rustie bits did champ, as they were wood. 1614 Raleigh Hist. World i. (1634) 167 The rustie Axe or other Instrument of a Carpenter or Carver. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 358 The trenchant blade, Toledo trusty, For want of fighting was grown rusty. 1719 De Foe Crusoe i. 330 The Money..had lain by me so long useless, that it was grown rusty, or tarnish'd, and could hardly pass for Silver. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 746 Bars and bolts Grew rusty by disuse. 1824 W. Irving Tales Trav. I. 48 The steward had a rusty blunderbuss; the coachman a loaded whip. 1877 Besant & Rice Harp & Crown xxxiv. 328 A rusty spur, and one or two fragments of pottery. |
| β a 1400 Octavian (Percy Soc.) 32 Rowsty were the naylys. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon 117 Theyr harneys was all rousty, and theyr sadylles and brydelles all roten. 1639 in Glouc. Gloss. (1890) 197 For dust, wee say, doust: rowsty, for rusty. 1789 Ross Helenore (ed. 3) 64 To air his rousty coin. 1828 Carr Craven Gloss., Rousty, rusty. |
† 2. Morally foul or corrupt.
Obs.| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 66, I schal fynden hem heore fode..Saue..Robert þe Ribaudour, for his rousti wordes. c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 1428 He rekkeþ neuer how rusty ben his schepe. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. 136 Al the roialme thanne..lothit for that rousty Synne. 1579 Tomson Calvin's Serm. Tim. 208/1 He..sheweth that his soule is very roustie, & full of filthe. c 1586 C'tess Pembroke Ps. cxl. i, Men..Whose rusty lipps enclose A pois'nous sword. |
3. Of persons: Presenting an appearance suggestive of something old and rusted.
| ? a 1366 Chaucer Rom. Rose 159 Ful hidous was she for to sene, Ful foul and rusty was she. a 1529 Skelton Bouge of Court 345 Wyth that came Ryotte,..A rusty gallande, to-ragged and to-rente. 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 1592/2 Cranmer..was brought to them with a great number of rusty bilmen. 1688 Earl Clarendon Diary 11 Dec., There was a guard by St. Giles's of rusty ruffians, kept by Lord Lovelace's order. 1721 N. Amherst Terræ Fil. No. 46 (1726) 247 A great many of these transitory foplings, who came to the university with their fathers, rusty old country farmers. 1730 Swift Panegyr. on the Dean Wks. 1751 X. 165 What can my Lady mean, Conversing with that rusty D..n! 1824 W. Irving T. Trav. II. viii. 86 A little rusty, musty old fellow, always groping among ruins. 1850 Dickens Dav. Copp. xxii, You never saw such a rusty Prince. 1882 F. Montgomery Misunderstood v, He looked like a being of another sphere, among the rusty old gentlemen congregated in the room. |
4. a. Lacking polish or refinement; rough, rude, or rugged in manner or behaviour; surly, morose, churlish.
| a 1500 in Ashm. Theatr. Chem. (1658) 208 Therefor make no Man of thy Councell rude nor rustie. a 1529 Skelton Magnyfycence 768 Cankard Jacke Hare, loke thou be not rusty. 1594 Nashe Unfort. Trav. Wks. (Grosart) V. 54 Diogenes was one of the first and formost of the ring-leaders of this rustie morosotie. 1651 G. Firmin Serious Quest. 36 There are companies of rusty, rugged, rich fellowes in our Parishes. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Rusty⁓gutts, an old blunt Fellow. c 1720 Prior Daphne & Apollo 12 Nor ill bred swain, nor rusty clown, am I. 1740 Somerville Hobbinol ii. 180 But hostile Rage Inquisitive found out the rusty Swain. 1833 F. & A. Tennyson Poems 153 You did mingle blame with praise, Rusty Christopher. |
† b. Sc. Of a rime or verse: Rough, rugged, unpolished.
Obs.| 1501 Douglas Pal. Hon. Concl. 8 Ressaue this roustie rurall rebaldrie, Laikand cunning, fra thy pure leige vnleird. 1560 Rolland Seven Sages To Rdr., Ye may persaue that be this roustie ryme. a 1585 Polwart Flyting 146 Roustie ratrimes. |
c. Hoarse, raucous, harsh, grating. Also
transf.| 1570 B. Googe Pop. Kingd. iv. (1880) 50 b, Straight the Priest with rustie throte, alowde begins to cry. 1606 Holland Sueton. 18 A smal and rusty [margin Or hoarse] voice though he had. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. (1709) i. 243 If any of the Council or Witnesses happen to have a Rusty Voice, or a Fantastical Face. 1728 Swift Mullinix & Timothy Wks. 1751 VII. 211 When they hear his rusty Voice, With what Impatience they rejoice. 1787 Taylor Sc. Poems 4 (E.D.D.), Upo' that hint I scour'd my rusty throat. 1868 Alex. Smith Last Leaves 72 The rusty caw of the homeward-sliding rook. 1924 R. Campbell Flaming Terrapin iii. 47 Huge carrion crows came rasping rusty jaws. 1936 J. B. Priestley They walk in City vii. 192 All the time his rusty voice went on and on, half jeering at himself, half mocking the audience. 1938 M. K. Rawlings Yearling x. 95 They [sc. cranes] made a great circle against the sunset, whooping their strange rusty cry that sounded only in their flight. 1967 G. F. Fiennes I tried to run Railway ii. 14 At 87 [he] talked in his slow, rusty voice as if he were still on the job. |
5. a. Stiff, lacking in alertness or activity (of body or mind), through want of exercise or old age.
| 1508 Dunbar Tua Mariit Wemen 141, I haue conditioun of..A ring with a ryall stane, or other riche iowell, Or rest of his rousty raid. 1537 Thersytes in Pollard Miracle Plays 129 My body so lusty, Whiche for lacke of exercise is nowe almost rustye. 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 263 A Prince calld Hector..Who in this dull and long-continew'd Truce Is rusty growne. 1673 Temple Let. to Sir J. Temple Wks. 1720 II. 294, I went to the King, and said..that I would serve Him, as well as I could, though I doubted I was grown a little rusty, by lying still so long. 1768 Washington Let. Writ. 1889 II. 258, I presume, he has grown a little rusty in both [Latin and Greek], having had no benefit of his tutor since Christmas. 1854 Emerson Lett. & Soc. Aims, Immortality Wks. (Bohn) III. 283 It is a perception that comes by the activity of the intellect; never to the lazy or rusty mind. 1861 Times 25 Sept., An artillery driver..would, unless in constant exercise, get rusty. 1890 Huxley in Life (1900) II. xvi. 269, I am getting rusty in science—from disuse. |
b. Of knowledge, accomplishments, etc.: Impaired by neglect; requiring to be revived or polished up.
| 1796 Porson in Watson Life 134 For the benefit of those whose Greek is rather rusty with disuse, I have added a Latin version. 1873 Hamerton Intell. Life iii. ii. 82 Neglected pursuits become rusty. 1888 J. Payn Myst. of Mirbridge x, To have to admit that her French was a little rusty. |
6. That has fallen out of use or lost its freshness; old, antiquated, obsolete.
| 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia To P. Giles (1895) 10 Some there be that haue pleasure onely in olde rustie antiquities. 1601 Cornwallis Ess. i. vii, Come then, put away your rustie tradition all you that think not thus. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. (1900) 185 That Prayer..has lain by till 'tis almost rusty. 1693 J. Edwards Auth. O. & N. Test. 315 The rusty and antique fragments of the primitive times. 1732 Berkeley Alciphr. iii. §7 Rusty declaimers upon the necessity and usefulness of the great points of Faith. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xiii, ‘Lord Bacon's sayings—’ ‘'Pon my conscience,’ said Murphy, ‘both himself and his sayings are very rusty by this time’. |
II. 7. Of plants: Affected with rust or mildew.
| [1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xvii. lxv. (Bodl. MS.), Corupt dew þat comeþ..in corne & makeþ as it were rede oþer rustye.] 1502 Arnolde Chron. (1811) 165 Yf an appyl tree begynne to roten or yf the aplys begynne to wex rusty, than y⊇ barke of hym is syke. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Añublado, rustie wheate, Rubiginosus. 1865 Chambers's Encycl. VII. 301/2 The parsnip..is apt to become rusty, if allowed to remain too long in the ground. 1880 Disraeli Endym. 291 The spring corn had never grown, and the wheat was rusty. |
8. a. Having the colour of rust; of a (disagreeable) light reddish brown; rubiginous, ferruginous;
spec. in
Path., of sputa.
Frequently implying some impairment of the proper or original colour of the thing.
| 1528 Paynell Salerne's Regim. b iiij b, The other is called rusty coler, lyke to rusty iron. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, s.v. Dens, Rough and rustie teeth. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 66 And send foorth Winter in hir rustie weede. 1607 Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 205 His feet and nails be most sharp, his skin rusty, the hair very sharp. 1646 Bp. Hall Poems 22 Here maist thou shame The rusty Violets, with the Crimson flame Of either cheek. 1763 Mills Syst. Pract. Husb. II. 411 That thick substance which is red on garden-beans, [and] of a rusty colour on all kinds of corn. 1817 Scott Ivanhoe i, His own thick hair,..scorched by the influence of the sun into a rusty dark-red colour. 1849 Murchison Siluria iii. 42 Associated above and below with black and rusty slates. 1882 Garden 18 Feb. 111/3 A cool dusky green, with rusty shadows. |
| absol. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 172 Very young birds have some feathers skirted with rusty. |
b. Of (dark) clothes: Showing signs of age or use; shabby, worn, or faded.
| 1709 Tatler No. 68 ¶7 A Poor Fellow..with a rusty Coat. 1776 F. Burney Early Diary, Let. 5 Apr., Her cloak which was rusty and powdered, was flung half on and half off. 1818 Lady Morgan Autobiog. (1859) 76 It was driven by a little dumpy coachman, in a livery..old and rusty. 1848 Dickens Dombey iii, They began to think their mourning was wearing rusty too. 1892 W. S. Gilbert Foggerty's Fairy 117 His rusty old suit of clothes was the cast-off of a waiter. |
c. Of colours: Inclining towards, modified by, the colour of rust. (
Cf. 10.)
| 1791 Hamilton tr. Berthollet's Dyeing II. ii. i. ii. 31 The processes employed for dyeing wool would only give a rusty black to silk. 1817 Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. X. ii. 472 The breast, belly, and vent, rusty red. 1822–34 Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) IV. 526 In this case the hair is directly hoary or of a yellowish or rusty white. 1882 Garden 1 Apr. 218/3 The Carrots..turn a rusty yellow colour. |
9. In special applications:
a. With names of birds, fishes, etc., as
rusty bunting,
rusty flycatcher,
rusty grackle,
rusty oriole;
rusty dab,
rusty flat-fish,
rusty flounder, etc.
Also in names of moths or butterflies, as
rusty button,
rusty dot,
rusty mitre, etc.; see Rennie
Butterfl. & M. (1832).
| 1784 Pennant Arct. Zool. II. 364 *Rusty Bunting with head, neck, breast, and sides, rust-colored. |
| 1839 Storer Fishes Massach. 141 The *Rusty Dab..is occasionally brought to our market in the winter season only. 1848 Bartlett Dict. Amer. 375 Rusty Dab.., the popular name of the Rusty Flat-fish, a fish found on the coast of Massachusetts and New York in deep water. |
| 1888 Goode Amer. Fishes 326 The Sand Dab, or rough Dab, Hippoglossoides platessoides, also sometimes known as the *Rusty Flounder. |
| 1811 Wilson Amer. Ornith. III. Pref. p. xiii, *Rusty Fly⁓catcher, wings and tail black; plumage above brown; inhabits the southern states. |
| Ibid. III. 41 *Rusty Grakle, Gracula Ferruginea. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 159 Rusty Grackle,..nearly all the feathers skirted with warm brown above, and brownish-yellow below. |
| c 1700 in Dampier's Voy. (1729) III. 428 The *Rusty Mantiss. Resembles a dead Leaf. |
| 1787 Latham Gen. Syn. Birds Suppl. I. 89 *Rusty Oriole... The edges of the feathers are rust-coloured. |
b. With names of plants, as
rusty fern,
rusty fig,
rusty gum,
rusty inga.
| c 1711 Petiver Gazophyl. viii. 73 Small, round wing'd, Smyrna *Rusty Fern. |
| 1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Pl. 538 Ficus rubiginosa,..*Rusty Fig. |
| 1847 Leichhardt Jrnl. II. 48 The range was openly timbered with white-gum, spotted-gum, Ironbark, *rusty-gum and the cypress-pine. 1889 J. H. Maiden Useful Native Pl. 236 Angophora lanceolata,..Rusty Gum. |
| c 1700 in Dampier's Voy. (1729) III. 434 *Rusty Inga. The Pods of this are flat and covered with a rusty coloured Hair. |
c. rusty coal,
rusty crown bark,
rusty gold,
rusty gravel (see
quots.).
| 1830 Cumbld. Farm Rep. 49 in Husb. III. (L.U.K.), Gravelly soil, on an open bottom of gravel, technically called a rusty gravel. 1860 Eng. & Foreign Mining Gloss. (ed. 2) 62 Rusty coals, coals discoloured by water or exposure to air. 1880 Markham Peruv. Bark 40 The C[hinchona] Chahuarguera is the rusty crown bark of commerce... With this rusty crown bark are mixed larger quills particularly rich in the alkaloid called chinchonidine. 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., Rusty gold,..free gold, which does not easily amalgamate, the particles being coated, as is supposed, with oxide of iron. |
d. rusty spot = red spot 2.
| 1900 Bull N.Y. Agric. Exper. Station No. 183. 188 ‘Rusty Spot’ is the name given to small yellowish-red points or patches scattered quite evenly throughout the mass of the cheese and having the general appearance of iron rust. Ibid. 189 Connell..isolated from a rusty spot cheese an organism which he called Bacillus rudensis. 1958 E. M. Foster et al. Dairy Microbiol. ii. 20 Lactobacillus plantarum var. rudensis and Lactobacillus brevis var. rudensis have been implicated as causes of rusty spot defect in Cheddar cheese. |
10. Comb. a. Qualifying
adjs. and
ns. of colour, as
rusty-brown,
rusty-brownish,
rusty-red. (
Cf. 8 c.)
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. xii. 14 On his head a steele cap he did weare Of colour rustie browne, but sure and strong. 1758 G. Edwards Glean. Nat. Hist. II. 209 The whole bird..is covered with feathers of a rusty-brownish or black colour. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. 48 A tall meagre varlet, whose rusty-brown cloak [etc.]. 1863 N. Brit. Rev. May 375 A disease called rust,..from the rusty-red or yellowish patches which it forms. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 206 Upper parts ranging from the color of gnoma to a rusty-red. |
b. rusty-dusty,
rusty-fusty, characterized by rust and dust or fustiness. Also
fig. rusty-dusty n., the buttocks (
Black English).
| 1593 G. Harvey Pierce's Superer. Wks. (Grosart) II. 246 All the rusty-dusty iestes in a country. Ibid. 289 To how many rusty-dusty Waines was braue Liuy beholding? 1630 J. Taylor (Water P.) Wks. ii. 24 Our cottage, that for want of use was musty, And most extremely rusty-fusty-dusty. 1849 in D. J. Browne American Poultry Yd. (1855) 47 None but the brave..are likely to enjoy any favor from the present class of rusty-fusty colored beauties. 1864 Daily Telegr. 13 Oct., All your rusty-fusty British notions about comfort, civility, privacy, and the like. 1953 W. Burroughs Junkie iv. 42 A negro voice was singing, ‘Get up, get up, woman, off your big fat rusty-dusty.’ 1970 C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 99 Rusty dusty, the buttocks. |
c. With
ns., as
rusty-coat (
attrib.),
rusty-stove;
rusty-back (fern), the scale fern,
Ceterach officinarum| 1782 J. Adams in Fam. Lett. (1876) 404 But how much more luxurious it would be to me to dine..upon rusticoat potatoes with Portia! 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) I. 96/2 Acrosticum, Rustyback, Wall rue, or Fork-fern. 1873 Leland Egypt. Sketch-Bk. 118 There were many other shades besides anthracite, ranging from rusty-stove to sole-leather,..old or new ivory, and so on. 1874 Treas. Bot. Suppl., Rusty-Back, a provincial name for Blechnum Spicant, and, according to other authorities, also for Ceterach officinarum. 1908 E. Step Wayside & Woodland Ferns 50 The development of the sori gives a distinctly red hue to the underside and justifies the name Rustyback. 1945 A. B. Jackson Step's Wayside & Woodland Ferns (ed. 2) 57 The Rusty-back Fern is pretty generally distributed in England. 1960 P. Taylor Brit. Ferns & Mosses 120 The Rusty-back Fern is mainly confined in Europe to the Mediterranean region, extending northwards up the Atlantic coast to Great Britain. 1976 Westmorland Gaz. 10 Sept. 10/2 Interest was aroused..by seeing the Rusty-back and Wall-rue ferns on a wall. |
11. a. Parasynthetic and other combs., as
rusty-coated,
rusty-coloured,
rusty-rested,
rusty-voiced;
rusty-looking,
rusty-old, etc.
| 1615 Chapman Odyss. xxii. 223 A broad and ancient rusty-rested shield. 1700 in Dampier's Voy. (1729) III. 434 The Pods..are flat and covered with a rusty coloured Hair. 1820 Scott Monast. xvi, This rugged and decayed dungeon of rusty-coloured stone. 1837 P. Keith Bot. Lex. 312 A number of rusty-looking spots or patches dispersed over the surface of the leaf. 1874 Garrod & Baxter Mat. Med. 415 Marked with six rusty-coloured longitudinal stripes. 1883 Cent. Mag. Oct. 925/2 The snipe is certainly much better able to take care of himself than his rusty-coated cousin. 1912 W. Owen Let. 2 July (1967) 148 A taciturn, rusty-voiced man. 1917 ― Poems (1963) 57 Finished fields, and wire-scrags rusty-old. |
b. In the specific names of birds, plants, etc.
| (a) 1784 Pennant Arct. Zool. (1792) II. 153 Rusty-crowned Heron. Crest and hind part of the neck of a deep ferruginous color. 1787 Latham Gen. Syn. Birds Suppl. I. 170 Rusty-Collared Finch..inhabits Terra del Fuego. 1817 Stephens in Shaw's Gen. Zool. X. ii. 392 Rusty-throated Flycatcher (Muscicapa gularis). 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 214 Rusty-crowned Falcon... Crown ashy-blue, with a chestnut patch. 1880 Cassell's Nat. Hist. II. 57 The Rusty-spotted Cat,..Felis rubiginosa. |
| (b) 1855 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. V. 89 Don's Willow, or Rusty branched Willow. 1889 Cent. Mag. Aug. 553 Olea ferruginea, the rusty-leaved olive of the country between the upper Indus and the Suleiman mountains. |
▪ II. rusty, a.2 (
ˈrʌstɪ)
[var. of resty a.2, perhaps by association with prec.] Reasty, rancid.
Very common in the 17th and 18th centuries, and still widespread in dialect use.
| 1515 Barclay Egloges iv. (1570) C iv b/2 Such rusty meates inblindeth so our brayne, That of our fauour the muses haue disdayne. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 152 b, The Bacon..; if you hang it in greate smoke at the first, it will be rustie. 1648 Gage West Ind. 93 Though it were but to help him scrape rusty gammons of bacon. 1690 Strutton Relat. Cruelties French 15 An Ounce of rusty Pork with Bread and Beverage. 1745 W. Thompson R.N. Adv. (1757) 8 The Wind and Sun more forcibly convey themselves into the Flesh, which dries up its Juices, and makes it rusty. 1792 Trans. Soc. Arts X. 345 Preserving salted provisions from becoming rancid or rusty. 1847 C. Brontë J. Eyre v, Indifferent potatoes and strange shreds of rusty meat, mixed and cooked together. 1898 Besant Orange Girl ii. xxvi, The beef may have been tough and the pork rusty. |
▪ III. rusty, a.3 (
ˈrʌstɪ)
Also 9
dial. rousty.
[var. of resty a.1, perhaps influenced by rusty a.1] 1. Of horses: Restive.
| 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 142 This rude rustie, bolde blinde bayerd of mine..chopt foorth. 1594 ? Greene Selimus Wks. (Grosart) XIV. 213 Thinks he to stop my mouth with gold or pearle? Or rustie iades fet from Barbaria? 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsem. (1809) 38 It is extremely wrong to put a gentleman on a restive horse. [Foot-note. A strange epithet this, and I wonder who coined it; tell me of a rusty horse, and I shall know what it means.] 1828– in dial. glossaries (Cumb., Yks., Northampt., Heref.). |
b. In
phr. to ride, or run, rusty. Freq. of persons: To become intractable or obstinate; to be angry or annoyed; to take offence (
cf. 3).
| (a) 1709 Brit. Apollo No. 32. 3/2 How is't Apollo rides so rusty, Why so Grum, and why so Crusty? 1785 Grose Dict. Vulgar T. s.v. Rusty, To ride rusty, to be sullen. 1821 Scott Pirate xxxix, How the devil am I to get the crew to obey me? Why, even Dick Fletcher rides rusty on me now and then. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xli, ‘Rides rather rusty,’ said Mr. Roker, with a smile. |
| (b) 1764 Ann. Reg., Chron. 129/1 Great expectations from lord Shelburn's colt, but he ran rusty. 1855 Lawrence in Bosw. Smith Life (1883) I. 469 To add to my misery Neville Chamberlain has again run rusty. 1863 Reade Hard Cash III. 199 They..watched the yard till dusk, when its proprietor ran rusty and turned them out. |
† 2. transf. Of things. (
Cf. resty a.
1 2.)
| 1625 in Birch Crt. & Times Chas. I (1846) I. 36 There is much urging and spurring the parliament for supply and expedition, in both which they will prove somewhat rusty. 1656 Owen Mortif. Sin vi, Indwelling distempers grow rusty and stubborn by continuance in ease and quiet. |
3. colloq. Ill-tempered, cross, nasty. Chiefly in
phr. to turn rusty (
cf. 1 b).
| 1815 Scott Guy M. xxviii, The people got rusty about it. 1843 Thackeray Mr. & Mrs. Berry ii, You..turn rusty because he forgets your last message. 1876 Farjeon Love's Victory xi, He never said a word to make the governor turn rusty. 1889 D. C. Murray Dangerous Catspaw 186 He was a bit rusty at first. |
▪ IV. † ˈrusty, v. Obs. rare.
[f. rusty a.1] intr. and trans. To become or make rusty.
| 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest 20 b, It..rustieth; but being newe rubbed ouer with Sande and Salte, commeth to his olde colour againe. 1608 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. iv. iii. Schisme 186 God so rustied every joynt, that there..it could not stir. a 1618 Raleigh Rem. (1661) 156 As the bonds of Reason and Love are immortal, so do all other chains..both rustie and rot Noble parts. |