pat-a-cake

American  

[pat-uh-keyk] / ˈpæt əˌkeɪk /

noun

1. a children's game in which a child claps hands alone and with another child while chanting a nursery rhyme.

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Etymology

Origin of pat-a-cake

First recorded in 1870–75; after the opening words of a rhyme that accompanies such play

Example Sentences

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

Even baby has its "pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake," and is lulled to sleep with visions of a coach and six little ponies.

From Trifles for the Christmas Holidays by Armstrong, H. S.