Definition of "rattletrap" in English

adjective

1. Mechanically unreliable or in disrepair.

   • 2006, Paul McGeough, Bush 'palace' shielded from Iraqi storm, theage.com.au, August 26, http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/bush-palace-shielded-from-iraqi-storm/2006/08/25/1156012740594.html, All services for the biggest embassy in the world will operate independently from the rattletrap utilities of the Iraqi capital. (speaking of the new US Embassy in Baghdad)

noun

1. (informal) A mechanical device, particularly an automobile, that is worn out, run down, or mechanically unreliable as indicated by noises it makes in operation.

   • Mom always worried about our safety in my friend's rattletrap. I told her not to worry, as it can't go fast enough to be dangerous.

2. (dated) Any piece of miscellaneous equipment or junk.

3. A type of noisemaker in which the teeth of a gear repeatedly bend and release a stiff tongue.

4. (dated, slang, derogatory) A person's mouth.

   • Shut your rattletrap!