pat-a-cake
[pat-uh-keyk]
- a children's game in which a child claps hands alone and with another child while chanting a nursery rhyme.
Also patty-cake.
Origin of pat-a-cake
First recorded in 1870–75; after the opening words of a rhyme that accompanies such play
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pat-a-cake
Historical Examples
Even baby has its "pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake," and is lulled to sleep with visions of a coach and six little ponies.
Trifles for the Christmas HolidaysH. S. Armstrong
Barby stooped to take the little terrier's head between her hands and pat-a-cake it back and forth with an affectionate caress.
Georgina of the RainbowsAnnie Fellows Johnston