Bead-rattler

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A Roman Catholic. derogatory

    "And can't you smell that bacon? To think that a poor bead-rattler like me can't have any, on a Friday, no matter how early he's up, and that you might have all you wanted, if you'd only take the trouble to come and get it, you lazy heretics!"

Example

More examples

"And can't you smell that bacon? To think that a poor bead-rattler like me can't have any, on a Friday, no matter how early he's up, and that you might have all you wanted, if you'd only take the trouble to come and get it, you lazy heretics!"

Etymology

A reference to rosary beads.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.