Forms: 4 bustelen, 6 bustel, bussel, 6–7 bussle, bussell, 7 busle, 6– bustle. [ME. bustelen, used (once only) by Langland, is perh. onomatopæic, suggested by BLUSTER and by the sound of the alliterative words in the line. The mod. verb differs in sense, and has not been found earlier than the middle of the 16th c.; possibly it may be a phonetic variant of BUSKLE, from which in early use it is scarcely distinguishable in sense; cf. also hustle, rustle, etc. The resemblance in sound to mod. Icel. bustl a splash, as of a fish in water, að bustla to make a splash, to bustle, is noteworthy, but evidence of historical connection is wanting.]
I. in ME. † 1. intr. ? To wander blindly or stupidly; = BLUSTER v. 1. Obs. rare–1.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. VI. 4. Ther were fewe men so wys that couthe the wei thider, Bote bustelyng [1377 B. V. 521 blustreden; 1393, C. VIII. 159 blostrede] forþ as bestes ouer valeyes and hulles.
II. The mod. word.
2. intr. To bestir oneself or display activity with a certain amount of noise or agitation, to be fussily active: usually implying excessive or obtrusive show of energy. Often with advs. about, along, up and down. (Cf. BUSKLE v. 2, 3.)
1580. North, Plutarch, 123. Some … for fear to be taken tardy did bustle up at this noise.
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., I. i. 152. God … leaue the world for me to bussle in.
1621. Burton, Anat. Mel., II. iii. VI. (1651), 349. I was once … mad to bussell abroad.
1628. Wither, Brit. Rememb., II. 1759. How they trudg’d, and busled up and downe.
1632. Sanderson, Serm., I. 312. Many servants … will … bustle at it … so long as their masters eye is upon them.
1633. Bp. Hall, Hard Texts, 315. All shall be glad to bustle into armes for their defence.
1672. Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.), Rehearsal, V. i. 113. Busie, busie, busie, busie, we bustle along.
1711. Steele, Spect., No. 6, ¶ 6. The good Man bustled through the Crowd.
1781. Cowper, Convers., 215. We bustle up with unsuccessful speed.
1818. Byron, Juan, I. clix. Antonia bustled round the ransack’d room.
1838. Dickens, O. Twist, xxxix. Get up, and bustle about.
1844. Kingsley, Lett. (1878), I. 122. We bustle and God works.
1857. Emerson, Poems, 37. Let the great world bustle on.
b. as imper. = Bestir yourself! Make haste!
1594. Shaks., Rich. III., V. iii. 289. Come, bustle, bustle. Caparison my horse.
1822. Byron, Werner, I. i. 258. What, ho, there! bustle!
1837. Dickens, Pickw., vi. ‘Bustle,’ said the old gentleman.
1869. Ld. Lytton, Orval, 98. Run to the Apothecary! Bustle, wench!
† c. To come down with commotion. Obs.
a. 1611. Chapman, Iliad, XII. 369. Down he bustled like an oak … Hewn down for shipwood.
† 3. intr. To struggle, scuffle, contend; to elbow one’s way through a crowd. To bustle it out: = to fight it out. Obs. (Cf. hustle.)
c. 1600. Timon, III. i. (1842), 42. The foure windes doe bussle in my heade.
1610. Holland, Camden’s Brit., I. 261. Edward the Third … and Philip Valois bustled for the very kingdome of France.
1647. W. Browne, Polex., II. 321. ’Tis in vaine … to bustle with my resolution.
1712. Arbuthnot, John Bull (1755), 52. Peg’s lads bustled pretty hard for that.
4. trans. and refl. To bestir, stir, rouse: also with up. Now rare.
1579. A. Munday, in Arb., Garner, V. 209. Bustling themselves to dress up the galleys.
1584. Lyly, Campaspe, IV. i. My master bustels himself to flie.
1610. Histrio-m., VI. 251. Bustle up Your drouping spirits.
1880. Daily Tel., 12 Oct., 3/3. We spend a couple of hours in bustling up the denizens of the big wood, where the foxes are plenty.
5. trans. (and refl.) To cause to move precipitately and in disorder; to hurry (a person or thing) in a fussy or over-energetic manner. Const. with preps. or advs. b. To make (hot, etc.) by bustling.
1563–87. Foxe, A. & M., III. 771. The Bishop … bustleth himself with all speed possible to the Church.
1833. Blackw. Mag., XXXIII. 281. A man who bustled himself into importance with the mob. Ibid. (1849), LXV. 695. Old Thomas had to bustle on his coat.
1855. Kingsley, Westw. Ho, ii. The churchwardens and sidesmen … have bustled themselves hot and red. Ibid., v. 92. The jolly old man bustled them out of the house.
1883. Standard, 8 Sept., 5/3 If a stroke oar spurted at every two hundred yards, and then eased when he was striking fast, he would ‘bustle’ his men into utter confusion before a mile had been covered.
