rattlecap

rattlecap

English

Noun

rattlecap (plural rattlecaps)

1. (slang, obsolete) An unsteady, volatile person.
   • 1897, Abby Hopper Gibbons, ‎Sarah Hopper Emerson, Life of Abby Hopper Gibbons (page 81)

     I should write oftener but that my sister Sarah has become such a rattlecap, that she leaves me not a particle of news. Upon my word, she is the greatest talker extant. I am a perfect silence compared with her.

   • 1970, Georgette Heyer, Charity Girl

     He regarded Simon with indulgent fondness, having known him from the cradle, but he knew that Simon was inclined to be a rattlecap; […]

References

• 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary