hustle

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈhʌsəl/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈhʌsəl/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(husəl)

Inflections of 'hustle' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
hustles
v 3rd person singular
hustling
v pres p
hustled
v past
hustled
v past p

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
hus•tle /ˈhʌsəl/USA pronunciation   v., -tled, -tling, n. 
v. 
  1. to (cause to) move, esp. to leave, roughly or hurriedly: [no object]She hustled off to work.[+ object]He hustled the kids to school.
  2. to proceed or work rapidly or energetically:[no object]I hustled and finished the report.
  3. to be aggressively energetic:[no object]He really hustled and signed up a lot of clients.
  4. to promote aggressively:[+ object]The author went on TV talk shows to hustle his newest book.
  5. to pressure (a person) to buy or do something unwise:[+ object]The car salesman tried to hustle us into a bad deal.
  6. to obtain by often dishonest or illegal means:[+ object]to hustle money from unsuspecting tourists.
  7. Slang Termsto earn one's living by illegal means: [no object]out hustling on the streets.[+ object]out hustling drugs.

n. 
  1. [uncountable] energetic or hurried activity.
  2. discourteous shoving or jostling:[uncountable]the hustle and bustle of the big city.
  3. Slang Termsa scheme of persuading someone to buy something unprofitable or participate in a dishonest scheme:[countable]The con artists tried another hustle.
hus•tler /ˈhʌslɚ/USA pronunciation  n. [countable]

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
hus•tle  (husəl),USA pronunciation v., -tled, -tling, n. 
v.i. 
  1. to proceed or work rapidly or energetically:to hustle about putting a house in order.
  2. to push or force one's way;
    jostle or shove.
  3. to be aggressive, esp. in business or other financial dealings.
  4. Slang Termsto earn one's living by illicit or unethical means.
  5. Slang Terms(of a prostitute) to solicit clients.

v.t. 
  1. to convey or cause to move, esp. to leave, roughly or hurriedly:They hustled him out of the bar.
  2. to pressure or coerce (a person) to buy or do something:to hustle the customers into buying more drinks.
  3. to urge, prod, or speed up:Hustle your work along.
  4. to obtain by aggressive or illicit means:He could always hustle a buck or two from some sucker.
  5. to beg;
    solicit.
  6. to sell in or work (an area), esp. by high-pressure tactics:The souvenir venders began hustling the town at dawn.
  7. to sell aggressively:to hustle souvenirs.
  8. to jostle, push, or shove roughly.
  9. Slang Termsto induce (someone) to gamble or to promote (a gambling game) when the odds of winning are overwhelmingly in one's own favor.
  10. Slang Termsto cheat;
    swindle:They hustled him out of his savings.
  11. Slang Terms
    • (of a prostitute) to solicit (someone).
    • to attempt to persuade (someone) to have sexual relations.
    • to promote or publicize in a lively, vigorous, or aggressive manner:an author hustling her new book on the TV talk shows.

n. 
  1. energetic activity, as in work.
  2. discourteous shoving, pushing, or jostling.
  3. Slang Terms
    • an inducing by fraud, pressure, or deception, esp. of inexperienced or uninformed persons, to buy something, to participate in an illicit scheme, dishonest gambling game, etc.
    • such a product, scheme, gambling game, etc.
  4. Informal Termsa competitive struggle:the hustle to earn a living.
  5. Dance, Music and Dancea fast, lively, popular ballroom dance evolving from Latin American, swing, rock, and disco dance styles, with a strong basic rhythm and simple step pattern augmented by strenuous turns, breaks, etc.
  • Dutch husselen, variant of hutselen to shake, equivalent. to hutsen to shake + -el- -le
  • 1675–85

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
hustle / ˈhʌsəl/
  1. to shove or crowd (someone) roughly
  2. to move or cause to move hurriedly or furtively: he hustled her out of sight
  3. (transitive) to deal with or cause to proceed hurriedly: to hustle legislation through
  4. to earn or obtain (something) forcefully
  5. (of procurers and prostitutes) to solicit
  1. an instance of hustling
Etymology: 17th Century: from Dutch husselen to shake, from Middle Dutch hutsenˈhustler
'hustle' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Collocations: would like to see more hustle [out there, on the court], need to see more hustle [out there], that was good hustle (out there), more...

Forum discussions with the word(s) "hustle" in the title:


Look up "hustle" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "hustle" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!