hustle
pronunciation
How to pronounce hustle in British English:
UK [ˈhʌsl]
How to pronounce hustle in American English:
US [ˈhʌsl]
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- Noun:
- a swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property
- a rapid bustling commotion
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- Verb:
- cause to move furtively and hurriedly
- move or cause to move energetically or busily
- sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity
Word Origin
- hustle (v.)
- 1680s, "to shake to and fro" (especially of money in a cap, as part of a game called hustle-cap), metathesized from Dutch hutselen, husseln "to shake, to toss," frequentative of hutsen, variant of hotsen "to shake." "The stems hot-, hut- appear in a number of formations in both High and Low German dialects, all implying a shaking movement" [OED]. Related: Hustled; hustling. Meaning "push roughly, shove" first recorded 1751. That of "hurry, move quickly" is from 1812. The key-note and countersign of life in these cities [of the U.S. West] is the word "hustle." We have caught it in the East. but we use it humorously, just as we once used the Southern word "skedaddle," but out West the word hustle is not only a serious term, it is the most serious in the language. [Julian Ralph, "Our Great West," N.Y., 1893] Sense of "to get in a quick, illegal manner" is 1840 in American English; that of "to sell goods aggressively" is 1887.
- hustle (n.)
- "pushing activity; activity in the interest of success," 1891, American English, from hustle (v.); earlier it meant "a shaking together" (1715). Sense of "illegal business activity" is by 1963, American English. As a name of a popular dance, by 1975.
Example
- 1. She is such a church-going person , well , let her hustle a little bit .
- 2. We escaped from the hustle and bustle of the city for the weekend .
- 3. We can get there in time if we hustle .
- 4. The two make obvious dance partners , but they better hurry and learn to do the hustle .
- 5. We try to hustle them , try to bustle them , try to cuss them .