Makes soft, whispering sounds like leaves moving, or to steal livestock by moving it secretly.
From Middle English 'rustle,' likely imitative in origin (meant to echo the actual sound). As a verb meaning to steal came from American frontier slang, especially cattle rustling in the Wild West.
Cattle rustling was such a big problem in the Old West that it had its own word and its own special punishment—rustlers were sometimes hanged on the spot, making 'rustler' one of the few job titles that could get you executed.
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