pat-a-cake
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of pat-a-cake
First recorded in 1870–75; after the opening words of a rhyme that accompanies such play
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 played cards and pat-a-cake clapping games, in effect living the childhood denied them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2019
My mother is bending over my little brother, Philip, in his high chair, playing pat-a-cake to trick him into letting her wipe his face and hands, making his mouth spill open with delighted laughter.
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 1, 2013
But Falstaff's presumption in attempting to woo Mistresses Ford and Page transforms them into cheeky schoolgirls performing pat-a-cake, and Ford into a grotesque contorted by jealousy.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 20, 2010
They performed tricks for fish: spinning a ball on their noses, playing pat-a-cake, waving a flipper and blowing kisses to their adoring, squealing fans.
From Washington Post
Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake, Papa's girl, Springing in baby-glee, Shaking her curl; Roll it and pick it and mark it with G, And toss in the oven for Girly and me.
From Mother Truth's Melodies Common Sense For Children by Mrs. E. P. Miller
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.
