rattlepate

English

Alternative forms

• rattle-pate

Etymology

rattle +‎ pate

Noun

rattlepate (plural rattlepates)

1. (archaic) A chatterbox; someone who talks a lot.
   • 1848, Charles Fenno Hoffman, "The Man in the Reservoir", Greatest Short Stories, Volume 1, P. F. Collier & Son (1915), page 124:

     "The place seems suggestive of fancies to you?" we observed in reply to the rattlepate.

   • 1875, Charlotte Mary Yonge, The Clever Woman of the Family:

     he is so quiet and reserved , and has that unlucky ironical way with him that people don't like; especially rattlepates like those

   Synonym: rattlehead

References

• “rattlepate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.