rat-tat
Britishnoun
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.
They are two syllables of rat-tat firing, evoking creepy animals, physical protrusions or uncanny powers.
From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2012
Soothed a little by the thought I drifted into sleep, broken often by bells ringing and the low rat-tat of drums for the prayers which went on at intervals throughout the night.
From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya
![]()
A sharp rat-tat on the shop door below woke Rab.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
![]()
When at last a ring sounded at the bell, followed by a peremptory "rat-tat," he started violently.
From John Dene of Toronto A Comedy of Whitehall by Herbert George Jenkins
Speaking quite candidly, and dropping the language of the Press Bureau for the moment, there has never been a time when the postman's rat-tat has occasioned me less emotion.
From Punch or the London Charivari, Vol. 147, December 16, 1914 by Various
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.