Hustle

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ÊŒsÉ™l

Origin

By metathesis from Dutch hutselen ("to shake up").

Full definition of hustle

Verb

1. (intransitive) To rush or hurry.I'll have to hustle to get there on time.
• 1922, Sinclair Lewis, Babbitt (novel) Chapter 12Men in dairy lunches were hustling to gulp down the food which cooks had hustled to fry
2. (transitive) To con or deceive; especially financially.The guy tried to hustle me into buying into a bogus real estate deal.
3. (transitive) To bundle, to stow something quickly.
• 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen RabbitThere was a person called Nana who ruled the nursery. Sometimes she took no notice of the playthings lying about, and sometimes, for no reason whatever, she went swooping about like a great wind and hustled them away in cupboards.
4. To dance the hustle, a disco dance.
5. To play deliberately badly at a game or sport in an attempt to encourage players to challenge.
6. To sell sex, to work as a pimp.
7. To be a prostitute, to exchange use of one's body for sexual purposes for money.
8. (informal) To put a lot of effort into one's work.

Noun

1. A state of busy activity.
2. A type of disco dance.

Derived terms

• hustle and bustle
• hustler
• hustly

Anagrams

• sleuth