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rat-a-tat

or rat-a-tat-tat

[ rat-uh-tat or rat-uh-tat-tat ]

/ ˈræt əˈtæt or ˈræt əˌtætˈtæt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR rat-a-tat ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a sound of knocking or rapping: a sharp rat-a-tat on the window.

Origin of rat-a-tat

First recorded in 1675–85; imitative

Words nearby rat-a-tat

rat race, rat snake, rat tamer, rat terrier, rat's nest, rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat-tat, rat-arsed, rat-bite fever, rat-catcher, rat-kangaroo

Example sentences from the Web for rat-a-tat

It was probably that, with some of the shells in the rack, that made all that rat-a-tat.

Sea-Hounds |Lewis R. Freeman
The other guns quickly took up the rat-a-tat; the range was sent to the other five guns.

New Zealanders at Gallipoli |Major Fred Waite
A little while after they heard a rat-a-tat at the garden door.

Edmund Dulacs Fairy-Book |Edmund Dulac
Then they heard a rat-a-tat, and the voice of their mother calling: 'Here!

Edmund Dulacs Fairy-Book |Edmund Dulac

Rat-a-tat, rat′-a-tat′, n. sound of repeated knocks, as of a drumstick.

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) |Various