rat-tat
Britishnoun
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.
They are two syllables of rat-tat firing, evoking creepy animals, physical protrusions or uncanny powers.
From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2012
Soothed a little by the thought I drifted into sleep, broken often by bells ringing and the low rat-tat of drums for the prayers which went on at intervals throughout the night.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
A sharp rat-tat on the shop door below woke Rab.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
A smart rat-tat at the door denoted the inopportune return of Lazarus himself.
From Ghetto Tragedies by Zangwill, Israel
"Biped knock" = merely "double"—the peculiar rat-tat which postmen have mostly forgotten or not learnt—perhaps regarding it as a badge of slavery like "tips."
From A Letter Book Selected with an Introduction on the History and Art of Letter-Writing by Saintsbury, George
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.
