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• tat
  tat

  verb (used with or without object)

  to do tatting, or make (knotted lace) by tatting.
• TAT
  TAT

  abbreviation

  Thematic Apperception Test.

tat

¹ American  

[tat] / tæt /

verb (used with or without object)

tatted, tatting

1. to do tatting, or make (knotted lace) by tatting.

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tat ² American  

[tat] / tæt /

noun

1. a pattern, words, or piece of art inked indelibly into the skin by making punctures in it and inserting pigments; tattoo.

   She was normally proud of her tats, but she wore long-sleeved blouses to cover them while interviewing for elementary school teaching positions.

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verb (used with or without object)

tatted, tatting

1. to mark (the skin) with tattoos, or put (tattoos) on the skin (often followed byup ).

   I want to get really tatted up, but I’m planning each piece carefully and taking my time—you only get one canvas for this art.

TAT ³ American  

abbreviation

Psychology.

1. Thematic Apperception Test.

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tat ¹ British  

/ tæt /

noun

1. tatty articles or a tatty condition

2. tasteless articles

3. a tangled mass

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tat ² British  

/ tæt /

verb

1. to make (something) by tatting

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tat ³ British  

/ tæt /

noun

1. short for tattoo 2

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tat ⁴ British  

/ tæt /

noun

1. See tit for tat

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tat Idioms  

1. see tit for tat.

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Etymology

Origin of tat¹

First recorded in 1900–05; back formation from tatting

Origin of tat²

First recorded in 1980–85; shortening of tattoo ² ( def. )

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Explanation

To tat is to make lace. Tatting involves making loops and tying knots in a long piece of thread over and over again. Most of the lace made today is created with a machine, and the ability to tat, or make lace by hand, is rare. Tatting requires a lot of silk or cotton thread and either a metal disc called a "shuttle," needles, or a crochet hook. You may also find tat used as a noun to mean "cheap, tasteless stuff," or informally to mean "tattoo," as in "Hey, I love the new tat on your shoulder."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tat TAT tatted tatting

“Both Canada and the U.S. have inventories, and so those have to be sold first — and this tit for tat has been going on for some time, so inventories might be higher than normal.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026

He praised Powell’s avoidance of engaging in tit for tat with the president.

From Barron's ● Jun. 2, 2026

But neither side seems to regard the sort of tit for tat exchanges we have seen this week as marking a return to all-out war.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

“The concern for the public and for representative democracy is that you’re going to have a lot of tit for tat moving forward,” Skelley told Salon.

From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2025

If it isn't tat from Taiwan, I paid far too much for something I'll only use twice.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

“I see myself as part of a mobile army, and we travel our nation’s highways and byways and we work in conjunction with law enforcement,” Gary Smith, an ambassador with TAT said.

From Fox News ● Jun. 15, 2019

We hope the rest of the WAC and TAT meetings are public moving forward, and we encourage Fyra Engineering to share as many relevant details as possible throughout the initial phase of the restoration process.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 15, 2017

The prospect of sending Aidan up alone with a bunch of people she’d never met before made me uneasy, but I had consulted the travel record for TAT online; it was excellent.

From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2016

The family have now been allowed to leave hospital and Mr and Mrs Owen are expected to return to the UK next week while their son has returned to Singapore, the TAT said.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2016

In Macedonia, a savings bank named TAT collapsed in 1997, erasing the economy of an entire major city, Bitola.

From Crime and Corruption by Samuel Vaknin

“It was really nice because she’s the horror woman. She’s tatted up — I have a biker family. She has the devil on this arm and the angel on this arm. She’s a punk Chicana.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

In his “6:16 in LA,” Mr. Lamar mentions the pizza restaurant Lucali, in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn: “My visa, passport tatted, I show up in Ibiza, Lucalis dwellings in Brooklyn just to book me some pizza.”

From New York Times ● May 6, 2024

The tatted head of a ruby octopus peers though the patio fences of Reuben’s Brews in Ballard.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 1, 2021

She’s a muscular military brat with red-tipped hair; tatted arms, stomach, and neck; and black gauges in her ears.

From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2021

Her arms and neck are covered in tattoos that only GDs can decipher, except for those red lips tatted on her neck.

From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas

Thousands of young women were given an education and a portable skill, their equipment — tatting shuttle, thread, needles, crochet hooks — small enough to fit in a pocket, and take to America.

From Washington Post ● Sep. 1, 2016

From the outside it's kind of amusing to think of you as a prisoner in your own home as your mother-in-law takes over the porch with her tatting and smoking.

From Slate ● May 29, 2013

Or as the milestone is better known in body-art circles, tatting 300.

From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2012

Last year has to be one of the worst episodes of senatorial tatting in history.

From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2012

Her skirt was turned back, showing a petticoat of red knitted yarn with tatting around the edge.

From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck

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