hustle

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈhʌsəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Dutch husselen (“to shake, toss”), hutselen,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} a frequentative of hutsen “to shake”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Earliest recorded meaning

To shake to and fro, especially coins in a hat in the game of hustle-cap (1684).^[7][3][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “to push roughly, to jostle” appeared in 1751,^[7][3][4] and “to move quickly, to work busily” in the early 19th century.^[3][4] American English developed the senses “to obtain in a hurried or illegal way” (1840) and “to sell aggressively” (1887),^[7][3][4] and the noun “pushing activity, drive” (1891–92).^[4][7] A hustle meaning a swindle or racket is recorded from 1963,^[7][3][4] and the disco dance from 1975.^[4]

Timeline

• 1684 – to shake coins in a hat.^[7][3]
• 1715 – noun, a shaking together.^[7][3]
• 1751 – to jostle or shove.^[7][3][4]
• 1812 – to hurry, move quickly (Barnhart).^[3]
• 1840 – to obtain by pushing or illegal means.^[7][3][4]
• 1887 – to sell aggressively.^[7][3]
• 1963 – a swindle.^[7][3][4]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To push or shove roughly; to jostle.
2. To move or convey hurriedly or roughly, as in hustled out of the room.
3. To work or move energetically and quickly.
4. To obtain or sell by aggressive or underhanded means; to swindle.
5. To pressure into buying or doing something.
6. (slang) To solicit customers, as a prostitute or pimp.

Noun

1. Energetic activity; drive, as in hustle and bustle.
2. The act of jostling or shoving.
3. A dishonest scheme or way of getting money; a fraud.

Word family

• hustler

Related words

• bustle
• hotchpotch

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press