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Glite Dictionary
🍃 A soft sound 🐄 Stealing cattle 📄 Making a soft sound
rustling

rustling

1 9.4
The act of stealing cows from a farm or ranch
  • noun
  • /ˈrʌslɪŋ/
translation icon : robo de ganado
  • The last straw was an increase in rustling, which forced peasants to move their livestock from paramos to populated areas.
  • cattle rustling

Examples

  • The ranchers met to discuss the rise in cattle rustling and its impact on their businesses.

  • After several thefts, the sheriff warned the community about the dangers of rustling in the area.

  • The defendants, all three, are charged with murder and rustling .

    Hang 'em High (1968)

  • At the same time, burglary and cattle rustling were on the rise.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Animal rustling is a particularly volatile issue.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Physical punishment was generally used as the last resort in cases of burglary or cattle rustling.

    Academic text (2001)

  • There's also a charge of cattle-rustling.

    My Darling Clementine (1946)

  • They seemed to have strong evidence implicating him in the rustling.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Authorities are cracking down on rustling to protect local farmers from losing their livestock.

How Serious

armed robbery
  • NSFW
78 3.2
rustling
1 9.4
theft
356 1.1
petty larceny
  • Formal
3 6.9

Surface Forms

rustling singular
rustlings plural

Morphology

rustling = rustle (opaque) = rustle + ing

Although formed by adding -ing to the verb 'rustle', the sense 'stealing cattle' is a specialized meaning of the verb not predictable from the common 'rustle' = noise sense.

Etymology

Rustling in the sense of stealing cattle comes from the verb rustle, which originally meant 'to move quietly', the quiet way thieves would drive animals at night. That's why rustling came to mean 'the stealing of livestock'.