Patter
['pætə] or ['pætɚ]
Definition
(noun.) a quick succession of light rapid sounds; 'the patter of mice'; 'the patter of tiny feet'.
(verb.) make light, rapid and repeated sounds; 'gently pattering rain'.
Checker: Paulette--From WordNet
Definition
(v. i.) To strike with a quick succession of slight, sharp sounds; as, pattering rain or hail; pattering feet.
(v. i.) To mutter; to mumble; as, to patter with the lips.
(v. i.) To talk glibly; to chatter; to harangue.
(v. t.) To spatter; to sprinkle.
(v. i.) To mutter; as prayers.
(n.) A quick succession of slight sounds; as, the patter of rain; the patter of little feet.
(n.) Glib and rapid speech; a voluble harangue.
(n.) The cant of a class; patois; as, thieves's patter; gypsies' patter.
Edited by Cathryn
Definition
v.i. to repeat the Lord's Prayer: to pray: to repeat over and over again indistinctly to mumble.—v.t. to repeat hurriedly to mutter.—n. glib talk chatter: the cant of a class.—ns. Patt′erer one who sells articles on the street by speechifying; Patt′er-song a comic song in which a great many words are sung or spoken very rapidly.—Patter flash to talk the jargon of thieves.
v.i. to pat or strike often as hailstones: to make the sound of short quick steps:—pr.p. patt′ering; pa.t. and pa.p. patt′ered.
Checker: Mario
Examples
- No routine has ever done that in spite of the conservative patter about human nature; mechanical politics has usually begun by ignoring and ended by violating the nature of men. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Go patter thy petitions to heaven, said the fierce Norman, for we on earth have no time to listen to them. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- The garden was truly growing dark; dusk had come on with clouds, and drops of rain began to patter through the trees. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- To make the matter worse, the church door had reopened, and the aisles were filling: patter, patter, patter, a hundred little feet trotted in. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- Mr. Tulkinghorn retires into another chamber; bells ring, feet shuffle and patter, silence ensues. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Both listened to the thunder, which was loud, and to the rain, as it washed off the roof, and pattered on the parapets of the arches. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- The rain came down, thick and fast, and pattered noisily among the leafless bushes. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- Outside the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered against the windows. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- As my waking sense returned, the bare walls of the guard room closed round me, and the rain pattered against the single window. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The rain fell heavily on the roof, and pattered on the ground, and dripped among the evergreens and the leafless branches of the trees. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- At first it dropped slowly and regularly, then it pattered into a stream. Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell To Arms.
- Sometimes she observed the war of elements, thinking that they also declared against her, and listened to the pattering of the rain in gloomy despair. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- I had nothing to do but listen to the pattering of the fountains and take medicine and throw it up again. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- The pattering of a little child's feet, ever coming on--on--on? Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- His pattering steps and mine alone were heard, when we entered the magnificent extent of nave and aisle of St. Peter's. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- I told him to go to sleep alone, and here he is, downstairs, getting his death a-cold pattering over that canvas, said Meg, answering the call. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- The pattering rain and howling wind alone replied to her. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- They may hunt the whole country-side, while the raindrops are pattering round their inactivity. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
Checked by Lionel