From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbustlebus‧tle1 /ˈbʌsəl/ verb [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] BUSY/HAVE A LOT TO DOto move around quickly, looking very busybustle about/round etc Madge bustled round the room, putting things away.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
bustle• Servants, porters, farriers and fletchers bustled about.• A waitress bustles, the ambience hustles.• They bustled to and fro across the dock and swarmed on and off the ships.• She bustled to the dresser and tucked - I saw it - a small package deep inside the drawer.bustle about/round etc• Servants, porters, farriers and fletchers bustled about.• Waitresses bustled about bearing what appeared to be an apparently limitless supply of red and white wines.• Gaveston bustled about in the darkness, found a tinder, and a cresset torch flared into life.• She bustled round, putting on kettles and opening tins of biscuits and cake.• Kawasaki technicians bustling round the test bike confidently tell me it is the best bike yet.• She was unprepared for it and her nervousness increased tenfold as she bustled about to get his tea.bustlebustle2 noun 1 [singular]BUSY PLACE busy and usually noisy activitybustle of a continual bustle of people coming and going → hustle and bustle at hustle2(1)2 [countable]DCC a frame worn by women in the past to hold out the back of their skirtsExamples from the Corpus
bustle• Life was terribly hectic in the city, she thought, all hustle and bustle.• She enjoyed all the hustle and bustle of people and music.• A school-age child has trouble concentrating in the class-room because she is overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle.• The streets and bars were deserted, and for once the incessant noise and bustle had abated.• The ceaseless thrust and bustle came from something deep and primaeval in man.• His solemnity contrasts with the calculating bustle of Ezra Cohen.• The bustle of metropolitan commerce and tourism filled the streets.bustle of• the bustle of a big cityOrigin bustle1 (1500-1600) Probably from buskle “to prepare” ((16-17 centuries)), from busk “to get ready, prepare” ((13-21 centuries)), from Old Norse buask “to prepare yourself” bustle2 1. (1600-1700) → BUSTLE12. (1700-1800) Origin unknown 