pitter-patter
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
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pitter-patters,
present (3rd person singular)
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pitter-pattered,
past participle, past
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pitter-pattering
present participle
adverb
noun
verb
adverb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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pitter-pattersimple
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pitter-patterssimple
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have pitter-patteredperfect
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has pitter-patteredperfect
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am pitter-patteringprogressive
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are pitter-patteringprogressive
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is pitter-patteringprogressive
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have been pitter-patteringperfect progressive
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has been pitter-patteringperfect progressive
Past
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pitter-patteredsimple
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had pitter-patteredperfect
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was pitter-patteringprogressive
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were pitter-patteringprogressive
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had been pitter-patteringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pitter-patter
1400–50; late Middle English: a babbled prayer; perhaps imitative
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The delicate pitter-patter of a drum’s cymbal is the only sound to break through the thick brick wall of the obscure performance venue, Sun Space, and reach the wide, desolate Sunland Boulevard.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
After greeting students, chasing a football around, "attacking" shoelaces and tights, and exploring parts of the school she has never seen before, the pitter-patter of puppy paws slows down.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2026
The show’s soundtrack and the décor are usually distinctly ’80s, but the pitter-patter of David and Maddie’s bickering and the creativity of the mysteries are timeless.
From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2023
While there, “We heard the pitter-patter across the ceiling. I said, ‘I think that’s a rat,’ ” says Klawitter.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 13, 2023
My feet made a stupid pitter-patter as I walked, and I thought that Frith, with his felt soles, must have thought me foolish.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
The wispy author, who wears her hair in a halo, pitter-patters about in a set of high-ceilinged rooms in which the light seems to have died long ago.
From Time Magazine Archive
I felt little pitter-patters in my heart the day I tried on my first pointe shoes.
From "Taking Flight: From War Orphan to Star Ballerina" by Michaela DePrince
Later in the quarter, the Tigers confused the MSU defense again on a similar play and Trey Palmer pitter-pattered into the end zone for a 58-yard touchdown, no defender within 20 yards.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 25, 2021
Mass., whose tiny, brilliant red homebred Pekingese bitch, Kai Lo of Dah Lyn, pitter-pattered to victory.
From Time Magazine Archive
Oh, so early, as the raindrops pitter-pattered on the roof of the little rabbit's house in the Old Brier Patch.
From Billy Bunny and Uncle Bull Frog by David Cory
When bedtime arrived, they all peeled off their moccasins and stockings and hung them round the stove to dry, and then pitter-pattered up the cold, bare stairs in their bare feet.
From The Drama of the Forests Romance and Adventure by Arthur Henry Howard Heming
Raindrops pitter-pattering on the ground during an April shower can appear peaceful to the naked eye, but a closer look at the droplet hitting the ground would reveal a violent interaction between water and soil.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 17, 2022
My heart pitter-pattering, I pierced a piece with a fork and brought it carefully into my mouth.
From Salon ● Nov. 19, 2021
I was captivated by Teena when she was a pup: ears that moved like a tiny elephant’s, a seal-jolting head and platypus feet pitter-pattering along, trying to get hold of my laces.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 14, 2018
For now, glampers can enjoy their solitude in a tent that makes even thunderstorms enjoyable, with the rain pitter-pattering on the canvas and the lightning glowing through the walls.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 31, 2015
“Ai, Chihuahua . . .” And, now that it had devoured most of the town’s water snakes, that grubby yellow feline reincarnation of Cleofes Apodaca was pitter-pattering quietly along the irrigation ditches, hunting frogs.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
