Meaning

2 senses

  1. (informal)To demand attention from someone; to nag, nudge, or remind someone.

    Nobody has corrected the problem yet, so it's time to rattle their cage.

  2. (informal)To anger or to annoy someone.

    If you really want to rattle his cage, ask him about his family.

Examples

2 sentences

  1. Who rattled Tom's cage?

    Хто вивів Тома з себе? — deniko · CC BY 2.0 FR

    deniko · Tatoeba · CC0 · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. He's a little on edge today. I wouldn't rattle his cage if I were you.

    darinmex · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · B2Open on TatoebaReport a problem

Forms

rattles someone's cage, rattling someone's cage, rattled someone's cage, rattled someone's cage
Base formrattle someone's cage · to rattle someone's cage
3rd person singularrattles someone's cage
Present participlerattling someone's cage
Past simplerattled someone's cage
Past participlerattled someone's cage

irregular

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theyrattle someone's cage
he, she, itrattles someone's cage

Past simpleLesson

all personsrattled someone's cage

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave rattled someone's cage
he, she, ithas rattled someone's cage

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill rattle someone's cage

Synonyms

1 synonyms
rattle someone's chain

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
rationallyratsrattleB2rattlesnakeraucousravageB2
rattle someone's cage — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto