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 figurativelyAn old song has been rattling around in my head all day.
Examples of rattle around in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Nearly a month removed from the Toronto Raptors firing Masai Ujiri as the team’s president, there is a line that is still rattling around my brain from that Friday afternoon.
—
Eric Koreen, New York Times, 24 July 2025
The results are occasionally adorable: This is a film in which our heroes have to rattle around in a spaceship, Interstellar style, to travel through a wormhole, while other characters can traverse the far reaches of the universe with a surfboard.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 July 2025
The album name had been rattling around her brain for months, born out of years of experiences trying to find the right combination of words to describe her sound to other people, particularly the American media.
—Cat Cardenas, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2025
Before that fight [in Cobra Kai], all these lines from Daniel's villains from the movies are all rattling around in his head before the skeletons start appearing.
—EW.com, 16 June 2025
There are about 114 billion pennies currently in circulation in the United States, the Treasury says, with an untold number buried in sofa cushions or rattling around under car floor mats.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 22 May 2025
Jonah insists that Joseph take a turn with her, which Joseph graciously accepts, perhaps with his second wife’s words of warning rattling around his head.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 15 Apr. 2025
There is no shortage of bench jockeys whose opinions, informed or not, rattle around in your head and can derail you.
—Neil Senturia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Mar. 2025
But the line that keeps rattling around in my head isn’t aimed at anyone in particular.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 13 Jan. 2025
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Eric Koreen, New York Times, 24 July 2025
The results are occasionally adorable: This is a film in which our heroes have to rattle around in a spaceship, Interstellar style, to travel through a wormhole, while other characters can traverse the far reaches of the universe with a surfboard.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 22 July 2025
The album name had been rattling around her brain for months, born out of years of experiences trying to find the right combination of words to describe her sound to other people, particularly the American media.
—Cat Cardenas, Rolling Stone, 30 June 2025
Before that fight [in Cobra Kai], all these lines from Daniel's villains from the movies are all rattling around in his head before the skeletons start appearing.
—EW.com, 16 June 2025
There are about 114 billion pennies currently in circulation in the United States, the Treasury says, with an untold number buried in sofa cushions or rattling around under car floor mats.
—Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News, 22 May 2025
Jonah insists that Joseph take a turn with her, which Joseph graciously accepts, perhaps with his second wife’s words of warning rattling around his head.
—Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 15 Apr. 2025
There is no shortage of bench jockeys whose opinions, informed or not, rattle around in your head and can derail you.
—Neil Senturia, San Diego Union-Tribune, 31 Mar. 2025
But the line that keeps rattling around in my head isn’t aimed at anyone in particular.
—Alison Willmore, Vulture, 13 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Rattle around.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rattle%20around. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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