hustle
/ˈhʌs(ə)l
/verb
1 [with object] Push roughly; jostle: they were hissed and hustled as they went in...
- The mayhem will then being in earnest as the gang intimidate the natives and wander through the bar hustling the bar tenders and drinking pre prepared shots - neat of course!
Synonyms
jostle, push, push roughly, bump, knock, shove, nudge, elbow, shoulder;
crowd, mob
1.1 [with object and adverbial of direction] Force (someone) to move hurriedly or unceremoniously: I was hustled away to a cold cell...
- Soon after they had stopped, the door roared aside and the ubiquitous soldiers were hustling the weary people off the train.
- These people were hustling me along towards their car, and I had to do something about it.
- When the doorbell rang, I bounced up, but Aunt Rachel hustled me back into the sitting room as she answered the door.
1.2 [no object, with adverbial of direction] Push one’s way; bustle: Stockwell hustled into the penalty area...
- The students are hustling and bustling about, Ms. Hunter frantically handing back the test papers.
- A short, white-haired little woman soon appeared at the door, hustling and bustling about.
- Every crew was hustling and bustling to get their cars prepped and ready for the long day.
Synonyms
manhandle, push, shove, thrust, frogmarch, bulldoze;
rush, hurry, hasten, whisk, sweep
informal bundle
2 [with object] informal, chiefly North American Obtain illicitly or by forceful action: Linda hustled money from men she met...
- There may be a mother wondering where her child is while this fellow pushes him around the streets and subways hustling drug money.
- During my 40 years of pool playing, I have never been hustled out of a significant amount of money.
- The widespread poverty of the area made blacks all the more susceptible to the ploys of those trying to hustle them out of their money for supposed burials.
2.1 (hustle someone into) Pressure someone into doing something: don’t be hustled into anything unless you really want to...
- Then hustle them into saying something that will make the next morning's headlines.
Synonyms
coerce, force, compel, pressure, pressurize, badger, pester, hound, harass, nag, harry, urge, goad, prod, spur;
browbeat, bludgeon, bulldoze, steamroller, dragoon, prevail on, strong-arm
informal railroad
British informal bounce
North American informal fast-talk
2.2Sell aggressively: he hustled his company’s oil around the country...
- He had written a great novel which I encouraged him to keep hustling.
- You will need to really hustle, network, and make all the contacts you can.
- He ‘pounded the streets, hustling to stores and galleries’ in an attempt to sell his art.
3 [no object] North American informal Engage in prostitution: she would hustle for a few dollars...
- In 1998, he tried to be more careful about protecting himself, but he spent the summer hustling for money to pay for his apartment and for school.
- Then he says he hustles on the street only for enough money to buy food before going home to late at night.
- Joey is hustling on Melrose with the transvestites and rent-boys when a limo pulls to the curb.
noun
1 [mass noun] A state of great activity: the hustle and bustle of the big cities...
- It's a 12-hour flight there from the UK and you may be a little overwhelmed by the noisy, colourful hustle and bustle that you'll encounter on the way from the airport to your hotel.
- Both city centre streets and out-of-town shopping centres were full of shoppers over the weekend, but without the manic hustle and bustle often experienced so close to Christmas.
- But there's a definite feeling of hustle and bustle.
Synonyms
activity, bustle, hustle and bustle, hurly-burly, commotion, tumult, hubbub, brouhaha, busyness, action, liveliness, animation, movement, life, excitement, agitation, fuss, flurry, stir, whirl
informal toing and froing, comings and goings, rumpus, ballyhoo, hoo-ha, hullabaloo, to-do
archaic hurry-scurry, pother
2North American informal A fraud or swindle: the hustles being used to avoid the draft...
- I had to work my way up from scams to hustles to grifts to short-cons to swindles to long-cons to heists to inside jobs to stings to capers to scores.
- Many of the hustles and scams in the film are taken directly from his own poolhall adventures.
- Most of the hustles are meant, naturally, to appear not to be hustles at all, but genuine appeals for emergency financial assistance.
Phrases
hustle one's butt (or vulgar slang ass)
Origin
Late 17th century (originally in the sense 'shake, toss'): from Middle Dutch hutselen. sense 3 of the verb dates from the early 20th century.