English Dictionary |
PATTER
Pronunciation (US): | ![]() | (GB): | ![]() |
IPA (US): | ![]() |
Dictionary entry overview: What does patter mean?
• PATTER (noun)
The noun PATTER has 2 senses:
1. plausible glib talk (especially useful to a salesperson)
2. a quick succession of light rapid sounds
Familiarity information: PATTER used as a noun is rare.
• PATTER (verb)
The verb PATTER has 2 senses:
2. make light, rapid and repeated sounds
Familiarity information: PATTER used as a verb is rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Plausible glib talk (especially useful to a salesperson)
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
line of gab; patter; spiel
Hypernyms ("patter" is a kind of...):
channel; communication channel; line ((often plural) a means of communication or access)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A quick succession of light rapid sounds
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural events
Context example:
the patter of tiny feet
Hypernyms ("patter" is a kind of...):
sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)
Derivation:
patter (make light, rapid and repeated sounds)
Conjugation: |
![Listen to US pronunciation](/lib/sound3.png)
![Listen to GB pronunciation](/lib/sound3.png)
![Listen to US pronunciation](/lib/sound3.png)
![Listen to GB pronunciation](/lib/sound3.png)
Past simple: pattered
![Listen to US pronunciation](/lib/sound3.png)
![Listen to GB pronunciation](/lib/sound3.png)
Past participle: pattered
![Listen to US pronunciation](/lib/sound3.png)
![Listen to GB pronunciation](/lib/sound3.png)
-ing form: pattering
![Listen to US pronunciation](/lib/sound3.png)
![Listen to GB pronunciation](/lib/sound3.png)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Rain gently
Classified under:
Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering
Synonyms:
patter; pitter-patter; spatter; spit; sprinkle
Context example:
It has only sprinkled, but the roads are slick
Hypernyms (to "patter" is one way to...):
rain; rain down (precipitate as rain)
Sentence frame:
It is ----ing
Sense 2
Meaning:
Make light, rapid and repeated sounds
Classified under:
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling
Synonyms:
patter; pitter-patter
Context example:
gently pattering rain
Hypernyms (to "patter" is one way to...):
go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP
Derivation:
patter (a quick succession of light rapid sounds)
Context examples
Outside the wind still screamed and the rain splashed and pattered against the windows.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We heard her say, ‘Mother, there are two men in the house waiting to see you,’ and an instant afterwards we heard the patter of feet rushing down the passage.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
It was as still as a church on a week-day: the pattering rain on the forest leaves was the only sound audible in its vicinage.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
As Alleyne stooped to raise him, the air seemed to be alive with the sharp zip-zip of the bolts, and he could hear them pattering on the deck like apples at a tree-shaking.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Both men were a little winded, and their quick, high breathing, with the light patter of their feet as they danced round each other, blended into one continuous, long-drawn sound.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
So he pattered on, standing on the hilltop with his crutch under his elbow and one hand upon the side of the log-house—quite the old John in voice, manner, and expression.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
In a few minutes they heard the pattering of tiny feet, and many of the small gray mice came running up to her.
(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)
"It's that naughty boy. 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.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
The sounds seemed to have awakened the maids, too, for I could hear their bare feet pattering outside my door.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
We had hardly closed the thornbush door of our zareba, clasped each other's hands, and thrown ourselves panting upon the ground beside our spring, when we heard a patter of feet and then a gentle, plaintive crying from outside our entrance.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Learn English with... Proverbs |
"We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love... and then we return home." (Aboriginal Australian proverbs)
"You are as many a person as the languages you know." (Armenian proverb)
"Half an egg is better than an empty shell." (Dutch proverb)