Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Rustle

Rustle , intransitive verb

[Anglo-Saxon hristlan to rustle; or compare Swedish rusta to stir, make a riot, or English rush, v.]

1.
To make a quick succession of small sounds, like the rubbing or moving of silk cloth or dry leaves.
He is coming; I hear his straw rustle. — Shakespeare
Prouder than rustling in unpaid-for silk. — Shakespeare
2.
To stir about energetically; to strive to succeed; to bustle about. [Slang, Western United States]
3.
To steal; -- used of livestock and esp. of cattle.
Collocations (1)
To rustle up , To gather or find by searching; as, to rustle up some food for supper.

Rustle , transitive verb

To cause to rustle; as, the wind rustles the leaves.

Rustle , noun

A quick succession or confusion of small sounds, like those made by shaking leaves or straw, by rubbing silk, or the like; a rustling.
When the noise of a torrent, the rustle of a wood, the song of birds, or the play of lambs, had power to fill the attention, and suspend all perception of the course of time. — Idler