# hustle

Pronunciation: say "HUS-uhl" /ˈhʌsəl/

## Verb

1. To move or act quickly; to rush or hurry.
   - Simple: To move or act quickly because you are in a hurry.
   - _The waiters were hustling between tables to keep up with the lunch crowd._
   - _If we hustle, we can still make the early show._
3. To put a great deal of effort into one's work. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To work very hard at your job.
   - _The rookies hustled on every play, diving for loose balls._
   - _Freelancers who hustle can earn more than they did in an office._
5. To con, cheat, or deceive someone, especially in order to get money from them.
   - Simple: To trick or cheat someone, usually to get their money.
   - _The salesman hustled several retirees into signing up for worthless insurance._
   - _Don't let anyone hustle you with promises of quick, guaranteed profits._
8. To push someone roughly, or to crowd against and jostle others.
   - Simple: To push people roughly or crowd against them.
   - _Commuters hustle one another on the platform whenever a train pulls in._
   - _Two security guards hustled the heckler toward the exit._
9. To bundle something away, stowing it quickly.
   - Simple: To quickly push or put things away somewhere.
   - _The clerk hustled the files into a drawer as soon as the inspector walked in._
   - _Between scenes, stagehands hustle the props away into the wings._
10. To play a game or sport badly on purpose so that other players are encouraged to challenge you.
   - Simple: To play badly on purpose in a game so that others will want to play against you.
   - _The old man would hustle at chess in the park, fumbling his opening moves to tempt passersby into a game._
   - _They hustled at the bowling alley, losing the first two games on purpose before raising the stakes._
11. To get something by illicit or forceful means. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To get something in a dishonest or pushy way.
   - _She hustled two backstage passes by flashing an expired press badge._
   - _Street kids hustle cigarettes and spare change from anyone who looks lost._
12. To work; to do one's job. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To work, or do a job.
   - _He hustles nights at a warehouse and takes classes during the day._
   - _Everybody on this block has to hustle somewhere, at the docks or the corner store._
14. To perform the hustle, a dance done to disco music.
   - Simple: To do the disco dance called the hustle.
   - _Couples hustled across the floor as the mirror ball spun overhead._
   - _By the end of the lesson, even the shyest students could hustle in time to the disco beat._
15. To work as a prostitute, exchanging sexual services for money. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To work as a prostitute, selling sex for money.
16. To sell sex for money, or to work as a pimp. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To sell sex, or to make money from other people who sell sex.
   - _Before his arrest, he hustled at a motel off the interstate, taking a cut from every woman who worked there._
   - _Detectives said the pair would hustle for years, sending women to hotels across the state._
17. To serve a particular clientele as a prostitute. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To sell sex to a certain group of customers.

## Noun

2. An activity a person pursues to reach a goal, especially to make money. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Something you do to make money or to get what you want.
   - _In a city this expensive, almost everyone has a hustle on top of the day job._
   - _Her latest hustle is buying old furniture at yard sales and restoring it for resale._
4. A state in which there is a great deal of busy activity.
   - Simple: A time or place full of busy activity, with people rushing around.
   - _Away from the hustle and bustle of downtown, the park felt almost silent._
   - _The newsroom was all hustle in the hour before the paper went to press._
6. A dishonest scheme for cheating people; a scam or swindle.
   - Simple: A dishonest trick to cheat people.
   - _Police say the charity drive was a hustle from the start._
   - _Investors lost their savings in an elaborate real estate hustle._
7. A tendency or ability to work hard and get things done.
   - Simple: The drive to work hard and get things done.
   - _What the new hires lack in experience, they make up for in hustle._
   - _Nobody in that sleepy office has any hustle left in them by Friday afternoon._
13. A disco dance, commonly danced to Van McCoy's 1975 song The Hustle.
   - Simple: A dance from the disco years, often done to a song called The Hustle.
   - _The instructor walked the class through the basic steps of the hustle._
   - _At the retro party, everyone lined up to do the hustle under the mirror ball._
18. A single act of prostitution. *(slang)*
   - Simple: One time that someone sells sex for money.
19. A way a prisoner earns money inside prison, such as prostitution or reselling stolen goods. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Something a prisoner does to make money in prison, like selling stolen things.
   - _His hustle on C Block was reselling food smuggled out of the prison kitchen._
   - _Without a hustle, an inmate has nothing to trade for soap or stamps._

## Origin

From Dutch husselen, or by metathesis from Dutch hutselen (“to shake up”), a frequentative of hutsen (“to stir, to move something back and forth”).

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/hustle (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).