Also 7–8 bussle. [f. BUSTLE v.1]
1. Activity with excitement, noise and commotion; stir, tumult, disturbance, fuss, ado.
1634. Milton, Comus, 379. Feathers … That, in the various bustle of resort, Were all to-ruffled.
1692. Locke, Educ., § 167 (1880), 143. All his Bustle and Pother will be to little or no purpose.
1733. Fielding, Intr. Chamberm., I. x. What was the occasion of this bustle?
1758. Johnson, Idler, No. 19, ¶ 3. Many … pass their lives … in bustle without business.
1822. Byron, Juan, VIII. xxxix. He … could be very busy without bustle.
1853. Kane, Grinnell Exp., xxix. (1856), 249. In the bustle of preparation.
1875. Jevons, Money (1878), 266. The bustle and turmoil … grow to a climax at four o’clock.
b. transf. The agitation or ‘working’ in the process of fermentation.
1674. N. Fairfax, Bulk & Selv., 128. Fermentation or bustle of the vvorking or leavening particles.
1713. Lond. & Country Brewer, IV. (1743), 331. Now the greater the Vessel is, the more Parts may arise and sink down; and … the more must be the Bustle.
2. The commotion of conflict; concr. a conflict, struggle, scuffle, fray. arch.
1622–62. Heylin, Cosmogr., II. (1682), 188. The Bustle betwixt Athens and Lacedæmon.
1678. Butler, Hud., III. III. 363. Caligula … Engag’d his Legions in fierce Bustles, With Periwinkles, Prawns and Muscles.
1693. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), III. 51. Divers were killed in the bustle.
1721. De Foe, Mem. Cavalier (1840), 286. We had a small bustle with some of the … troops of horse.
1769. Junius Lett., xxx. 136. His escape he attempts … a bustle ensues.
1865. Kingsley, Herew., xli. (1877), 503. There was a bustle, a heavy fall.
3. Thieves’ cant. (See quots.)
1812. J. H. Vaux, Flash Dict., Bustle, a cant term for money. Ibid., s.v. Bustle, Any object effected very suddenly, or in a hurry, is said to be done upon the bustle.
1830. Lytton, P. Clifford, 56. He who surreptitiously accumulates bustle, is, in fact, nothing better than a buzz gloak.
