Definition

1. Noun:

   • A rapid, active commotion: A state of busy, energetic, and often noisy activity or movement.
   • A swindle or scam: A dishonest scheme to cheat someone, often involving gambling or selling worthless goods.

2. Verb:

   • To pressure or urge someone into an action: To push someone, often aggressively, to do something quickly.
   • To get by trying hard or through energetic effort: To obtain something through determined, vigorous, and sometimes underhanded activity.
   • To move or cause to move energetically or busily: To act or make someone act with speed, urgency, and purpose.
   • To cause to move furtively and hurriedly: To move someone or something quickly and discreetly, often to avoid attention.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The hustle of the city streets was overwhelming for the new arrival.
  • He lost his money in a street-corner hustle involving three-card monte.

• Verb:

  • Don't let them hustle you into signing the contract without reading it.
  • She managed to hustle a free ticket to the concert from a friend.
  • The servers hustle between tables during the lunch rush.
  • Security hustled the protestor out of the building before anyone noticed.

Advanced Usage

• "Hustle and bustle": A common phrase describing a lively, noisy, and active environment, typically a city.

  • She moved to the countryside to escape the hustle and bustle of urban life.

• "Side hustle": A secondary job or project undertaken to earn extra income, in addition to one's main job.

  • He drives for a ride-share app as a side hustle on weekends.

Variants and Related Words

• Hustler (noun): A person who hustles. This can have a negative connotation (a swindler) or a positive one (an ambitious, hard-working person).
  • Be careful; he's a known hustler who scams tourists.
  • She's a real hustler, always working on three different projects at once.

Synonyms

• Noun (commotion): Bustle, flurry, stir, activity.
• Noun (swindle): Scam, con, racket, fraud.
• Verb (pressure): Push, pressure, coerce, strong-arm.
• Verb (move busily): Bustle, scurry, rush, dash.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Hustle up: To obtain or gather something quickly, often with effort.
  • We need to hustle up some volunteers for the event tomorrow.

Related Idioms

• "Hustle for something": To work energetically and aggressively to achieve or obtain something.

  • Young actors have to hustle for every audition they get.

• "Everyday hustle": Refers to the daily grind or the routine of working hard to make a living.

  • I'm just trying to manage the everyday hustle like everyone else.

Noun

1. a rapid active commotion
2. a swindle in which you cheat at gambling or persuade a person to buy worthless property

Verb

1. pressure or urge someone into an action
2. get by trying hard
   • she hustled a free lunch from the waiter
3. sell something to or obtain something from by energetic and especially underhanded activity
4. move or cause to move energetically or busily
   • The cheerleaders bustled about excitingly before their performance
5. cause to move furtively and hurriedly
   • The secret service agents hustled the speaker out of the amphitheater