rat-a-tat

[ rat-uh-tat ]

See synonyms for rat-a-tat on Thesaurus.com

noun

a sound of knocking or rapping: a sharp rat-a-tat on the window.

Origin of rat-a-tat

¹

First recorded in 1675–85; imitative

Also rat-a-tat-tat [rat-uh-tat-tat] /ˈræt əˌtætˈtæt/ .

Words Nearby rat-a-tat

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use rat-a-tat in a sentence

A lot of newspaper columns used to be written in a rat-a-tat-tat, fast-paced style—and they tended to be funny.
P.J. O’Rourke Joins The Daily Beast | | December 17, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
rat-a-tat, rat′-a-tat′, n. sound of repeated knocks, as of a drumstick.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R) | Various
In the woods one seldom hears from him anything but the rattling rat-a-tat-tat, as he hammers away on a dry old pine stub.
Ways of Wood Folk | William J. Long
Sophie lay back in her chair, eyes half closed, fingers beating a slow rat-a-tat on the chair-arm.
Burned Bridges | Bertrand W. Sinclair
A little while after they heard a rat-a-tat at the garden door.
Edmund Dulacs Fairy-Book | Edmund Dulac

Then they heard a rat-a-tat, and the voice of their mother calling: 'Here!
Edmund Dulacs Fairy-Book | Edmund Dulac

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