pitapat

American  

[pit-uh-pat] / ˈpɪt əˌpæt /

adverb

1. with a quick succession of beats or taps.

   Her heart beat pitapat with excitement.

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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 British  

/ ˌpɪtəˈpæt /

adverb

1. with quick light taps or beats

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verb

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

noun

1. such taps or beats

Etymology

Origin of pitapat

First recorded in 1515–25; imitative gradational compound

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pitapat pitapatted

How his heart had gone pitapat when he had discovered it and had quietly, oh, so quietly, dropped his baited hook into the clear, spring water.

From A Son of the City A Story of Boy Life by Herman Gastrell Seely

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

From The Land of Song, Book II For lower grammar grades by Various

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

And then she added, with a laugh, that he ought to be tied up, "for you are a cruel handsome man, Frank, and my heart goes pitapat at the very sight of you!"

From Love, the Fiddler by Lloyd Osbourne

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

Pitt's panthers pitapatted round Nebraska; the line poked holes, Fullback Parkinson plunged twice for touchdowns.

From Time Magazine Archive

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