pitapat

[pit-uh-pat]

adverb

1. with a quick succession of beats or taps.

   Her heart beat pitapat with excitement.

noun

1. the movement or the sound of something going pitapat.

   the pitapat of hail on a roof.

verb (used without object)

pitapatted, pitapatting 

1. to go pitapat.

pitapat

/ ˌpɪtəˈpæt /

adverb

1. with quick light taps or beats

verb

1. (intr) to make quick light taps or beats

noun

1. such taps or beats

Word History and Origins

Origin of pitapat¹

First recorded in 1515–25; imitative gradational compound

Example Sentences

With quick beating or palpitation; pitapat.

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Anything like the sound of a rat Makes my heart go pitapat!

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Pitapat, pit′a-pat, adv. with palpitation or quick beating.—adj. fluttering.—n. a light, quick step: a succession of light taps.—v.i. to step or tread quickly.

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I stood, and looked, and listened, and my heart went pitapat.

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But in that guise it is you, sir, of to-day, and if your oration is spoken to one auditor, in all that lovely throng in the gallery, whose heart answers "pity Zekle" to your pitapat, do you think that the divine Una's grandmother was never young, and that the droll high-collared coats did not cover hearts as sensitive and hopes as high as the faultless summer attire of Nameless, Jun., class of '90?

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Related Words

• chatter