pitapat
Americanadverb
noun
verb (used without object)
adverb
verb
noun
Etymology
Origin of pitapat
First recorded in 1515–25; imitative gradational compound
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:
And their hearts go pitapat When they hear the soldiers come With a r-r-rat-tat-tat And a tum-titty-um-tum-tum!
From Love-Songs of Childhood by Eugene Field
I stood, and looked, and listened, and my heart went pitapat.
From Fables for Children, Stories for Children, Natural Science Stories, Popular Education, Decembrists, Moral Tales by Leo Tolstoy, Count
It was when the comandante, Don Señor el Coronel Encarnacion Rios, looked upon the little saint seated in the shop and felt his heart go pitapat.
From Cabbages and Kings by O. Henry
Roll -- N. roll &c. v.; drumming &c. v.; berloque†, bombination†, rumbling; tattoo, drumroll; dingdong; tantara†; rataplan†; whirr; ratatat, ratatat-tat; rubadub; pitapat; quaver, clutter, charivari†, racket; cuckoo; repetition &c.
From Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases by Peter Mark Roget
In a moment there was a curious tearing sound, and then a pitapat on the ground about them.
From Under Fire For Servia by Colonel James Fiske
Pitt's panthers pitapatted round Nebraska; the line poked holes, Fullback Parkinson plunged twice for touchdowns.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
