patter
Pronunciation 1610s, pat + -er, of (onomatopoeia) origin. Noun
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004
Pronunciation 1610s, pat + -er, of (onomatopoeia) origin. Noun
patter (plural patters)
- A soft repeated sound, as of rain falling, or feet walking on a hard surface.
- I could hear the patter of mice running about in the dark.
- German: Trippeln
- Italian: picchiettio
- Russian: то́пот
- Spanish: pisada
patter (patters, present participle pattering; past and past participle pattered)
- To make irregularly repeated sounds of low-to-moderate magnitude and lower-than-average pitch.
- The bullets pattered into the log-cabin walls.
- The stealing shower is scarce to patter heard.
- To spatter; to sprinkle.
- Patter the water about the boat.
- Russian: бараба́нить
- Spanish: golpetear
patter
- Glib and rapid speech, such as from an auctioneer or a sports commentator.
- 1887, Gilbert and Sullivan, "My Eyes Are Fully Open", Ruddigore
- This particularly rapid, unintelligible patter isn't generally heard, and if it is it doesn't matter.
- 1887, Gilbert and Sullivan, "My Eyes Are Fully Open", Ruddigore
patter (patters, present participle pattering; past and past participle pattered)
- To speak glibly and rapidly, as does an auctioneer or a sports commentator.
- I've gone out and pattered to get money.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To repeat the Lord's Prayer.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To pray.
- (transitive, obsolete) To repeat hurriedly; to mutter.
patter (plural patters)
- One who pats.
- 1981, Jackie Cooper, Richard Kleiner, Please Shoot Dog (page 50)
- I used to hate head patters, and I have realized that all children dislike being patted on the head.
- 1981, Jackie Cooper, Richard Kleiner, Please Shoot Dog (page 50)
This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004