Brattles

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. To make a rattling or chattering noise commonly associated with small birds; to produce a rapid series of sharp sounds; to chatter noisily and persistently
2. To emit a repeated clattering or rattling sound often by birds; to create a sequence of quick, sharp noises; to talk or murmur continuously in a noisy way
3. To cause a rattling noise resembling bird calls; to generate fast, sharp sounds in succession; to babble or prattle incessantly with a rattling tone

Etymology: "Brattles" is the third-person singular present form of "brattle," so the story belongs to the verb itself. The verb is considered apparently imitative, meaning it seems to have been formed to echo the clatter it describes, and it probably blended the sounds of "break" and "rattle." That blend fits the sense: a brattle is a noisy, broken-up rattling, as when hail or loose tin bangs against something, or when a flock of birds clatters into flight. The verb also covers talk, and this is where the sound-imitation becomes a sort of spoken racket. To brattle can mean to chatter or murmur on noisily without pause, so the same clattering quality applies to a stream of words as to a rattle of stones. The form itself stays close to its sound, which is why it has kept its noisy character across both its bird and conversational uses.

Synonyms: chatterings, babblings, gossipings

Antonyms: silences, quiet