rattle around

phrasal verb

rattled around; rattling around; rattles around
informal
: to live or spend time in a place that is very big
Her husband died last year, and now she's just rattling around in that huge house by herself.
We rattled around Europe last summer.
sometimes used figuratively
An old song has been rattling around in my head all day.

Examples of rattle around in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The ball rattled around the hole but never once hit the green. Ryan Canfield, Fox News, 8 Feb. 2025 Day and night, the thought rattled around in his brain, leaving room for little else. Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 27 Jan. 2025 The two of us are like, rattling around the house looking at each other. EW.com, 17 Jan. 2025 Ben’s comment about Sisyphus the night before rattled around in my head. Hazlitt, 3 Dec. 2024 One level above us, Arthur is rattling around a van, so his gravity is constantly shifting. Vikram Murthi, Vulture, 4 Mar. 2024 His themes are profound and his exploration of them sincere in films that are imbued with strange and haunting images that rattle around in your subconscious for far too long. Lindsey Bahr, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2024 Like plenty of catchy quotations, this seems unfair, but with half a point rattling around inside. Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 16 Sep. 2024 Naturally, goth was still rattling around, but only in the creases and crevices of culture. Tish Weinstock, Vogue, 31 Aug. 2024

Dictionary Entries Near rattle around

Cite this Entry

“Rattle around.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rattle%20around. Accessed 18 Feb. 2025.

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