Etymology

From DutchCategory:English terms derived from Dutch#HUSTLE husselen or by metathesisCategory:English words derived through metathesis#HUSTLE from Dutch hutselen (“to shake up”), a frequentative of hutsen (“to stir, to move something (back and forth)”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhʌsəl/Category:English 2-syllable words#HUSTLECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#HUSTLE

• Audio (US):

  (file)

  Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#HUSTLE
• Rhymes: -ʌsəlCategory:Rhymes:English/ʌsəl#HUSTLECategory:Rhymes:English/ʌsəl/2 syllables#HUSTLE

Verb

hustle (third-person singular simple present hustles, present participle hustling, simple past and past participle hustled)Category:English lemmas#HUSTLECategory:English verbs#HUSTLECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#HUSTLECategory:Pages with entries#HUSTLECategory:Pages with 1 entry#HUSTLE

1. To push someone roughly; to crowd; to jostle.^[1]
   • 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:

     There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy. […] Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place. Pushing men hustle each other at the windows of the purser's office, under pretence of expecting letters or despatching telegrams.

     Category:English terms with quotations#HUSTLE

2. (intransitiveCategory:English intransitive verbs#HUSTLE) To rush or hurry.

   I'll have to hustle to get there on time.Category:English terms with usage examples#HUSTLE

   • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, chapter 12, in Babbitt:

     Men in dairy lunches were hustling to gulp down the food which cooks had hustled to fry

     Category:English terms with quotations#HUSTLE

     Category:Quotation templates to be cleaned
3. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#HUSTLE) To bundle; to stow something quickly.
   • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit:

     There was a person called Nana who ruled the nursery. Sometimes she took no notice of the playthings lying about, and sometimes, for no reason whatever, she went swooping about like a great wind and hustled them away in cupboards.

     Category:English terms with quotations#HUSTLE

4. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#HUSTLE) To con, swindle, or deceive, especially financially.

   The guy tried to hustle me into buying into a bogus real estate deal.Category:English terms with usage examples#HUSTLE

5. To play deliberately badly at a game or sport in an attempt to encourage players to challenge one.
6. (informalCategory:English informal terms#HUSTLE) To obtain by illicit or forceful action.
7. (informalCategory:English informal terms#HUSTLE) To sell sex; to work as a pimp.
8. (informalCategory:English informal terms#HUSTLE) To be a prostitute; to exchange use of one's body for sexual purposes for money.
   • 2018, Brendon Urie, Michael Angelakos, Sam Hollander, Morgan Kibby, Jake Sinclair, Dillon Francis, “Hey Look Ma, I Made It”, in Pray for the Wicked‎, performed by Panic! at the Disco:

     All my life, been hustling / And tonight is my appraisal / 'Cause I'm a hooker selling songs / And my pimp's a record label

     Category:English terms with quotations#HUSTLE

9. (informalCategory:English informal terms#HUSTLE) To serve (a clientele) as a prostitute.
   • 1976 February 14, Tommi Avicolli, Miguel Pinero, “Miguel Pinero: Prisoner, Playwright, God”, in Gay Community News, volume 3, number 33, page 9:

     When I was in Morocco I wrote this play ("Playland Blues") about young kids who […] hustle old gay men and closet queens.

     Category:English terms with quotations#HUSTLE

10. To dance the hustle, a disco dance.
11. (informalCategory:English informal terms#HUSTLE) To work.
12. (informalCategory:English informal terms#HUSTLE) To put a lot of effort into one's work.
    • 1977 August 27, Steve Savage, Susan "Suki" Eagan, “Everything You Wanted to Know About Suki, But Were Too Distracted In Chaps to Ask Her”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 8, page 9:

      Frazier and Gary worked for me for free -- for six months -- they didn't take any money from the house. They worked for tips. They both had other jobs, and they came in here and they hustled their ass.

      Category:English terms with quotations#HUSTLE

Noun

hustle (countable and uncountable, plural hustles)Category:English lemmas#HUSTLECategory:English nouns#HUSTLECategory:English uncountable nouns#HUSTLECategory:English countable nouns#HUSTLECategory:English countable nouns#HUSTLECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#HUSTLECategory:Pages with entries#HUSTLECategory:Pages with 1 entry#HUSTLE

1. A state of busy activity.
2. A propensity to work hard and get things done; ability to hustle.
   • 1934, Agatha Christie, chapter 3, in Murder on the Orient Express, London: HarperCollins, published 2017, page 26:

     'It's just natural for the folks here to be indolent,' she said. 'They just haven't got any hustle in them.'

     Category:English terms with quotations#HUSTLE

3. (preceded by a definite article) A type of disco dance, commonly danced to the Van McCoy song The Hustle (1975).
4. A scam or swindle.
5. (prison slangCategory:English prison slang#HUSTLE) An activity, such as prostitution or reselling stolen items, that a prisoner uses to earn money in prison.
6. (slangCategory:English slang#HUSTLE) An act of prostitution.
   • 1972, Lou Reed, “Walk on the Wild Side”:

     Little Joe never once gave it away / Everybody had to pay and pay / A hustle here and a hustle there / New York City's the place

     Category:English terms with quotations#HUSTLE

7. (informalCategory:English informal terms#HUSTLE) An activity, especially to achieve a desired goal or make money.

   Everybody's got a hustle.Category:English terms with usage examples#HUSTLE

References

Anagrams

• Hulets, Lesuth, Lueths, sleuth