rataplan
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
Etymology
Origin of rataplan
1840–50; < French; imitative
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.
With a rataplan and a paradiddle, U.S. radio last week opened its 1947-48 season.
From Time Magazine Archive
Up went the barrier and off went nine of America's fastest three-year-old trotters�with a rataplan dear to U. S. horse lovers.
From Time Magazine Archive
For half the evening, indeed�while its melodrama seemed crouching to spring�He had a jittery tension, a rataplan rhythm, a glare of circus lights and blare of circus music, that were theatrically vivid.
From Time Magazine Archive
When the Nazi submariners emerged from the U-boat, they were greeted with a rataplan of small-caliber fire from encircling destroyers.
From Time Magazine Archive
A cool breeze went; the hoofs of the horses beat a rataplan on the hard surface; the great road, broad enough to make three of, was alive with smart gigs and trotters.
From Australia Felix by Richardson, Henry Handel
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.
