Hustle

/ˈhʌsəl/ · verb

Meaning

To push someone roughly; to crowd; to jostle..

Definitions by Sense

1. To push someone roughly; to crowd; to jostle.
2. (intransitive) To rush or hurry.
3. (transitive) To bundle; to stow something quickly.
4. (transitive) To con, swindle, or deceive, especially financially.
5. To play deliberately badly at a game or sport in an attempt to encourage players to challenge one.
6. (informal) To obtain by illicit or forceful action.
7. (informal) To sell sex; to work as a pimp.
8. (informal) To be a prostitute; to exchange use of one's body for sexual purposes for money.

Example Sentences

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.

I'll have to hustle to get there on time.

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

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.

The guy tried to hustle me into buying into a bogus real estate deal.

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

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

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.

Synonyms for hustle

Antonyms for hustle

Related Words

Word Forms

• hustles
• hustling
• hustled

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

Practice and Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions