Hirtle

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To move quickly and with a rushing, clattering motion, as a dialect verb used in Scots English
2. Describing the act of hurrying or rattling along noisily, a rare Scots term for swift, bumpy movement
3. A Scots verb meaning to rush or bustle forward with a jolting, noisy and hurried motion

Etymology: "Hirtle" is a real but rare English word meaning a gallop, or a canter at an easy pace, especially of a horse. It comes from the Old English "hirtan" or "hyrtan," a verb meaning to hurry or to move quickly, which was itself derived from "heort," the word for heart. The sense of the root was probably about rushing or quick movement rather than the organ, though scholars have not pinned down the connection precisely. The word is usually linked to "hurtle" and the older "hurtle" senses of charging or colliding, which share a common Germanic ancestry. Its use is mainly regional and archaic, and most dictionaries record it chiefly in historical or dialect contexts.