pattern.1
/ˈpatə/, U.S. /ˈpædər/ Originally slang.
1.
a. The slang or coded language formerly used by criminals; cant. Cf. gammon and patter at gammon n.4 and int. Phrases 2. Now disused.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > register > [noun] > jargon > used by thieves or disreputable characters
pedlar's French1530
peddling French?1536
cant1706
slang1756
patter1758
rogue's Latin1818
thieves' Latin1821
Rotwelsch1827
underworld1927
Runyonesque1934
mobese1955
smogger1958
1758 Jon. Wild's Adv. to Successor 39 The master who teaches them [sc. young thieves] should be..well versed in the cant language commonly called the slang patter.
1789 G. Parker Life's Painter xv. 150 Gammon and Patter is the language of cant.
1839 G. Almar Oliver Twist i. viii. 18 What a precious green parrot you are not to understand patter!
1880 G. Sims in Weekly Disp. 23 May 12/1 It is thieves' patter, but someone in the crowd understands it well enough and answers him.
1905 S. Weyman Starvecrow Farm xxxiv. 320 ‘The gentry mort,’ she said, in thieves' patter, ‘is not worth the nubbing-cheat.’
1929 D. Hammett Maltese Falcon 107 The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter.
b. In extended use: any language not generally understood, esp. the jargon of a social group or subculture.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > register > [noun] > jargon
language1502
term of art1570
fustiana1593
jargoning1623
jargon1651
speciality1657
lingo1659
cant1684
linguaa1734
patois1790
slang1801
shibboleth1829
glim-glibber1844
argot1860
gammy1864
patter1875
stagese1876
vernacular1876
palaver1909
babble1930
buzzword1946
in word1964
rabbit1976
1875 G. J. Whyte-Melville Katerfelto (ed. 3) x. 94 ‘That's my name in your patter’, said the gipsy.
1884 M. Crommelin Brown-eyes vi. 57 It was so delightful to walk demurely..and talk a patter not understood of the other children.
1935 T. Wolfe Of Time & River ii. xxi. 216 As they approached, she heard their drawling voices, talking ‘cute nigger-talk’..the vapid patter phrased to a monotonous formula.
1983 Time 21 Mar. 72/1 Def stands for maximum cool, part of the patter of a complex..urban street culture.
1997 Independent 8 Jan. ii. 21/3 Prison patter reflects fears of violence, sexual identity, drugs.
2.
a. Smooth, persuasive talk; esp. the rapid speech used by a street trader, salesperson, etc., to attract or cajole customers.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > speech-making > [noun] > a speech > for specific occasion or purpose
His Majesty's Speech1583
New Year1595
panegyry1602
panegyric1603
remembrancea1616
valediction1619
panegyris1646
areopagitic1649
Hesped1650
allocution1689
maiden speech1702
Speech from the Throne1751
patter1772
inaugural1832
acceptance speech1855
oraison funèbre1856
keynote speech1863
keynote address1891
valedictory1892
keynote1896
pep speech1912
pep talk1913
society > trade and finance > selling > [noun] > offering for sale > persuasive or promotional sales rhetoric
patter1851
sales talk1926
sales pitch1962
sales pitchery1968
1772 G. A. Stevens Songs Comic & Satyrical 74 The politic patter, which both parties chatter, From bumpering freely shan't shake us.
1789 G. Parker Life's Painter xv. 180 A fellow that speaks well, they say he gammons well, or he has a great deal of rum patter.
1800 Sporting Mag. 16 26 [He] was obligated to tip them a little patter.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 222/2 I heard, also,..of boys having of late ‘taken to the running patter’ when anything attractive was before the public.
1873 W. Besant & J. Rice My Little Girl ii. xiii. 139 ‘He ain't no good, that teacher’, said the boy. ‘You go on with your patter. We're a listenin' to you’.
1885 A. Dobson Coll. Poems (1895) II. 95 The quack with his puckered persuasive face Patters away in the ancient patter.
1959 Streetwalker i. 10 Big Barbara is chatting a geezer, though the stream of polished professional patter she is directing at him warrants a less terse description.
1991 Times 29 Apr. 1/3 Every trader knows that the patter is indispensable.
b. The rapid or fluent speech often used by a comedian or other entertainer to maintain the attention of an audience. Also: rapid speech included in a song, esp. for comic effect.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > performing music > singing > [noun] > rapid speech introduced into song
patter1811
the mind > language > a language > register > [noun] > jargon > used by other groups
indenture Englisha1568
water language1702
jockeyism1802
slum1812
Polari1846
stable-language1856
scientificism1860
water-slang1860
Oxfordish1863
galley-slang1867
pitmatic1885
commercialese1910
legalese1911
academese1917
Hollywoodese1920
businessese1921
Hollywoodism1925
trade unionese1927
advertisingese1929
officese1935
sociologese1940
Whitehallese1940
Newspeak1949
patter1949
Pentagonese1950
educationese1958
computerese1960
managementese1961
spacespeak1963
computer-speak1968
techno-jargon1972
business-speak1973
Eurospeak1975
Euro-jargon1976
technospeak1976
doctorspeak1977
corporate-speak1978
medspeak1979
mellowspeak1979
technobabble1981
teenspeak1982
management-speak1986
codespeak1987
1811 Examiner 4 679/2 When called upon to repeat it [sc. a song], he gave the speaking mimicry, or patter of it (as it is technically called) word for word.
1876 Athenæum 4 Nov. 603/2 He speaks admirably what is called ‘patter’, and he delivers a jargon in ridicule of scientific terminology.
1880 J. A. Fuller-Maitland in G. Grove Dict. Music II. 673/2 Mozart and many other composers often introduce bits of ‘patter’ into buffo solos, as for instance the middle of ‘Madamina’ in ‘Don Juan’, etc.
1885 J. K. Jerome On Stage 53 In the provinces, I have known a three-act comedy put on without any rehearsal at all, and with half the people not even knowing the patter.
1949 Amer. Speech 24 40 Anything he says while performing is patter, and he almost never says silk handkerchief, but simply calls it a silk.
1965 G. Melly Owning-up vi. 59 I can still remember some of the abysmal patter which he delivered.
1976 Liverpool Echo 6 Dec. 10/5 Songs and patter formed the mainstay of his senior citizens' act.
2002 Village Voice (N.Y.) 8 Jan. 65/3 She cheerleads every..act week after week, her..sharp patter providing low-rent razzle-dazzle.
3. colloquial. Mere talk; incessant chatter, gabble; an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > [noun] > chatter
chirma800
clappingc1386
glavera1400
clapa1420
clackc1440
blabc1460
clattera1500
babble?a1525
babblery1532
pratery1533
clitter-clatter1535
by-talk?1551
prattle1555
prittle-prattle1556
twittle-twattle1565
cacquet1567
prate?1574
prattlement1579
babblement1595
gibble-gabble1600
gabble1602
twattlea1639
tolutiloquence1656
pratement1657
gaggle1668
leden1674
cackle1676
twit-twat1677
clash1685
chit-chat1710
chatter-chitter1711
chitter-chatter1712
palavering1732
hubble-bubble1735
palaver1748
rattle1748
gum1751
mag1778
gabber1780
gammon1781
gash1787
chattery1789
gabber1792
whitter-whatter1805
yabble1808
clacket1812
talky-talky1812
potter1818
yatter1827
blue streak1830
gabblement1831
psilologya1834
chin-music1834
patter1841
jaw1842
chatter1851
brabble1861
tongue-work1866
yacker1882
talkee1885
chelp1891
chattermag1895
whitter1897
burble1898
yap1907
clatfart1913
jive1928
logorrhœa1935
waffle1937
yackety-yacking1953
yack1958
yackety-yack1958
motormouth1976
1841 W. L. Rede Sixteen String Jack (MS) i. 6 Stash your patter and come along!
1865 Cornhill Mag. Dec. 664 I think you might have saved her from the chatter and patter of Mr. Watson; I can only stand it when I am in the strongest health.
1887 North Star 2 May 3/3 All this, of course, was mere platform patter.
1915 V. Woolf Voy. Out xvii. 278 The patter of baaing inexpressive human voices falling round her like damp leaves.
1991 Time 19 Aug. 66/1 The incessant patter of news updates will inevitably numb us, pushing onward the boundaries of our tolerance for atrocity.
Phrases
ΚΠ
a1795 Just the Thing (single sheet) He stood the patter, but that's no matter. He gammon'd the twelve.
1819 J. H. Vaux New Vocab. Flash Lang. in Memoirs II. 195 Patter'd, tried in a court of justice; a man who has undergone this ordeal, is said to have stood the patter.
Compounds
C1. † patter allusion n. Obsolete rare
patter act n.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > [noun] > a performance > item in > type of item
hit1811
star turn1885
sister act1893
showstopper1916
patter act1941
single act1952
bomb1954
stunt-
1941 I. S. Cobb Exit Laughing xxxviii. 481 Some song-and-dance sharps or mayhap a comedy patter act.
2000 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 14 Dec. 26 The audience were expecting a patter act and sat in silence as Mike wandered the stage playing his clarinet.
ΚΠ
1853 C. Dickens Bleak House xxxix. 393 Little Swills, in what are professionally known as ‘patter’ allusions to the subject, is received with loud applause.
patter speech n.
ΚΠ
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 6 Nov. 3/2 Foote's patter-speech beginning ‘So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage leaf to make an apple-pie’.
1990 Jrnl. Asian Stud. 49 924 Sixteen distinct types are listed, some appearing more than once: patter speech, poetic speech, percussion speech, [etc.].
C2.
patter song n. a humorous song in which a large number of words are fitted to a few notes and sung rapidly.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > novelty song
patter song1823
1823 C. Mathews Let. 23 Feb. in A. Mathews Mem. C. Mathews (1839) III. xvii. 385 The only striking subject for a patter-song is the inordinate love of title.
1880 J. A. Fuller-Maitland in G. Grove Dict. Music II. 673/2 The operettas of Messrs. Burnand, Gilbert, and Sullivan, in all of which patter-songs fill an important place.
1991 New Yorker 28 Oct. 99/2 It's a Gilbert and Sullivan patter song, complete with echoing chorus.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
pattern.2
/ˈpatə/, U.S. /ˈpædər/ 1. The action or fact of pattering; a rapid succession of light taps, or similar slight sounds.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [noun] > pattering or spattering
pit-a-pat1582
pit-a-pat-ationa1735
squatter1788
pattering1798
patter1822
splatter1827
pit-a-patting1844
pat1846
pitter-patter1863
spattering1866
1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall I. 129 There was no variety even in the rain; it was one dull, continued, monotonous patter, patter, patter.
1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & Widows III. lv. 306 The patter-patter of horses' feet.
1863 Ld. Lytton Ring of Amasis II. ii. iii. ii. 192 The dead leaves..kept up a continual patter on the window panes, like the tapping of elfin fingers.
1903 ‘T. Collins’ Such is Life (1917) i. 38 Just as I woke, I heard the distant patter of a galloping horse.
1936 C. L. Morgan Sparkenbroke iv. iv. 344 From the darkness of the garden came the soft patter of invisible rain and the earthy night-smell of plants.
1994 Beautiful Brit. Columbia Spring 41/1 Above the patter of rain on leaves comes the sonorous trill of a Bewick's wren.
2. spec. The sound of light footfall; used allusively to indicate the presence of young children or the imminent birth of a child, esp. in the patter of tiny (also little) feet. Also in extended use. Cf. patter v.2 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > baby or infant > [noun] > presence or expectation of
the patter of tiny (also little) feeta1849
pattering1849
a1849 H. Coleridge Poems (1851) II. 291 They stole away The patter of their feet still fretted me.
1863 H. W. Longfellow Children's Hour ii, in Tales Wayside Inn 209 I hear in the chamber above me The patter of little feet..And voices soft and sweet.
1883 R. Gower My Reminisc. II. xxi. 28 The patter of little feet, and the unconscious joyousness of children.
1924 N. Coward Rat Trap iii. 68 And we're to expect little clinging fingers and the patter of tiny feet.
1966 Guardian 29 Dec. 14/1 At any time now, the patter of little feet is expected to indicate that Helga's dream has at last come true... Helga is a polar bear.
2003 Belfast News Let. (Nexis) 30 Jan. (Features section) 16 Not quite the patter of tiny feet but the charge of a whole football team of little bairns.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
pattern.3
/ˈpatə/, U.S. /ˈpædər/, Australian English /ˈpætə/, /ˈpædə/ Australian. Now rare.
Esp. in Australian Aboriginal usage: food.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > [noun]
meateOE
eatOE
foodOE
fodderOE
dietc1230
gista1290
victual1303
victualsa1375
preya1382
feedinga1398
pasturea1398
viancea1400
viandsc1400
livingc1405
meatingc1425
vitalyc1440
vianda1450
cates1461
vivers1536
viandry1542
viander1543
gut-matter1549
peck1567
belly-cheer1579
appast1580
manchet1583
chat1584
belly-metal1590
repasture1598
cibaries1599
belly-timber1607
belly-cheat1608
peckage1610
victuallage1622
keeping1644
vivresa1650
crib1652
prog1655
grub1659
beef1661
fooding1663
teething1673
eatablea1687
sunket1686
yam1788
chow-chow1795
keep1801
feed1818
grubbing1819
patter1824
ninyam1826
nyam1828
grubbery1831
tack1834
kai1845
mungaree1846
scoff1846
foodstuff1847
chuck1850
muckamuck1852
tuck1857
tucker1858
hash1865
nosh1873
jock1879
cake flour1881
chow1886
nosebag1888
stodge1890
food aid1900
tackle1900
munga1907
scarf1932
grubber1959
1824 Methodist Missionary Soc. Rec. 26 Jan. ‘Boodjerry patta! murry boodjerry!—fat as jimbuck!!’ i.e. good food, very good, fat as mutton.
1847 A. Marjoribanks Trav. New S. Wales 91 Old Paddy, licking his lips, added it was ‘Cabon budgery patter like it Emu’.
1884 A. W. Stirling Never Never Land 174 White men never eat these birds; the blacks, however, are not so particular, and even where food is plentiful say kites make good ‘patter’.
1908 E. J. Banfield Confessions of Beachcomber ii. ii. 291 I can cordially wish him a never-failing supply of ‘patter’ and tobacco.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
patterv.1
/ˈpatə/, U.S. /ˈpædər/ 1.
a. intransitive. To recite a prayer (in early use spec. the paternoster), esp. in a rapid, mechanical, or indistinct fashion; to mumble or mutter one's prayers. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > manner of speaking > speak in a particular manner [verb (intransitive)] > mutter or mumble
mamblea1275
mumblec1350
blabber1362
babblea1400
muttera1425
pattera1425
rumble1440
barbettec1480
murmell1546
palter?1548
buzz1555
fumble1563
drumble1579
to sup up1579
radote?1590
chunter1599
putter1611
mussitate1623
muss1661
muffle1669
slobber1692
thruma1774
fumfer1954
the mind > language > speech > repetition > repeat [verb (intransitive)] > mechanically
chimec1405
pattera1425
parrot1596
parrotize1647
pitter1805
poll-parrot1865
a1425 (?a1400) G. Chaucer Romaunt Rose (Hunterian) 6794 I..have wel lever..Bifore the puple patre and preye.
a1450 (?c1421) J. Lydgate Siege Thebes (Arun.) (1911) 163 Lat vs make some manere myrth or play..It is no disport so to patere and seie.
?c1450 Life St. Cuthbert (1891) 1672 (MED) He saw him wende in to þe water, Nakyd, and þar in stande and pater In his prayers, vp to þe chinne.
a1513 W. Dunbar Poems (1998) I. 39 Sum pattiris with his mouthe on beidis That hes his mynd all on oppressioun.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 655/1 I patter with the lyppes, as one dothe that maketh as though he prayed and dothe nat, je papelarde.
1612 Trauels Foure Eng. Men Afr. Pref. 12 Others pattering on beades, and making large vowes.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 333 How shall we speake to the purpose but patter?
1914 J. Joyce Dubliners i Sometimes he used to put me through the responses of the Mass,..and, as I pattered, he used to smile pensively and nod his head.
1955 Times 27 July 4/6 We take the name of God in vain when we patter through prayers in our worship.
b. transitive. To repeat or recite (a prayer, charm, etc.) in a rapid, mechanical, or indistinct manner. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > repetition > repeat [verb (transitive)] > rapidly mechanically
pitter-patterc1500
patter1531
pittle-pattle1549
rote?1606
parrot1640
cuckoo1648
chime1697
thrum1710
chant1812
poll-parrot1865
1531 W. Tyndale Answere Mores Dialoge f. xxxviv Whyle the prest patereth Saynt Ihons Gospell in latine ouer theyr heedes.
a1538 T. Starkey Dial. Pole & Lupset (1989) 88 They can no thyng dow but pattur up theyr matyne & mas.
1546 J. Heywood Dialogue Prouerbes Eng. Tongue i. xi. sig. E Pattryng the diuels pater noster to her selfe.
c1600 (?c1395) Pierce Ploughman's Crede (Trin. Cambr. R.3.15) (1873) 6 All myn A b c after haue y lerned, And patres [perh. read patred] in my pater-noster iche poynt after oþer.
1632 W. Lithgow Totall Disc. Trav. ix. 411 For want of pattering an abridged Pater.
1681 W. Robertson Phraseologia generalis (1693) 980 To patter out prayers, recitare.
1710 T. Ruddiman in G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneis (new ed.) Gloss. at Patteraris In some places..they yet say..to patter out Prayers, i.e. mutter or mumble them.
1805 W. Scott Lay of Last Minstrel ii. vi. 39 For mass or prayer can I rarely tarry, Save to patter an Ave Mary.
1853 W. C. Bryant Poems (new ed.) 25 The well-fed inmates pattered prayer, and slept.
1882 R. L. Stevenson New Arabian Nights II. 91 I heard him..pattering off prayers in a tremulous, rapid whisper.
1913 D. H. Lawrence Love Poems 59 We have pattered the lessons ceaselessly.
1924 A. D. H. Smith Porto Bello Gold xii. 169 The nasal singsong of a priest pattering Latin prayers.
2.
a. intransitive. To talk rapidly, fluently, or glibly, esp. with little regard to sense or content; to chatter, jabber, prattle; spec. to talk smoothly and persuasively so as to attract or maintain interest.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > speech > loquacity or talkativeness > be talkative [verb (intransitive)] > talk excessively or chatter
chavel?c1225
babblea1250
chattera1250
clacka1250
janglea1300
ganglec1300
clapc1315
mumblec1350
blabberc1375
carp1377
tatterc1380
garre1382
rattlec1400
clatter1401
chimec1405
gabc1405
pattera1450
smattera1450
languetc1450
pratec1460
chat1483
jabber1499
clittera1529
cackle1530
prattle1532
blatter1533
blab1535
to run on pattens1546
tattle1547
prittle-prattlea1555
trattlea1555
tittle-tattle1556
quiddlea1566
brabble1570
clicket1570
twattle1573
gabble1574
prittle1583
to like to hear oneself speak, talk1597
to word it1612
deblaterate1623
tongue1624
twitter1630
snatter1647
oversay1656
whiffle1706
to gallop away1711
splutter1728
gob1770
gibble-gabble1775
palaver1781
to talk (etc.) nineteen to the dozen1785
gammon1789
witter1808
yabble1808
yaff1808
mag1810
chelp1820
tongue-pad1825
yatter1825
potter1826
chipper1829
jaw-jaw1831
buzz1832
to shoot off one's mouth1864
yawp1872
blate1878
chin1884
yap1888
spiel1894
to talk (also lie, swear, etc.) a blue streak1895
to run off at the mouth1908
chattermag1909
clatfart1913
to talk a streak1915
to run one's mouth1916
natter1942
ear-bash1944
rabbit1950
yack1950
yacker1961
to eat parrot head (also bottom)1965
yacket1969
to twat on1996
a1450 York Plays (1885) 357 Me thynke he patris like a py.
a1529 J. Skelton Colyn Cloute (?1545) sig. A.ii He chydes and he chatters He prates and he patters.
1583 B. Melbancke Philotimus (new ed.) sig. 98 There slothfullye she walkes with lumpish leysure like a snayle, her lippes euer pattering. her chekes are bolne.
1589 ‘Marphoreus’ Martins Months Minde sig. E2v See how like the old Ape this young Munkey pattereth.
1642 D. Rogers Naaman 344 You were as good hold your tongues as patter about them.
1790 C. Dibdin Coll. Songs I. 153 Go patter to lubbers and swabs d'ye see.
1819 W. Scott Bride of Lammermoor i, in Waverley Novels I. 271 Your characters..make too much use of the gob box; they patter too much.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 309/2 Those who sell something, and patter to help off their goods; those who exhibit something, and patter to help off the show.
1897 Sporting Times 13 Mar. 1/3 She did it in a sort of ‘it's of no consequence’ way that fairly amazed the learned counsel who was pattering on her behalf.
1910 G. Sanger Seventy Years Showman viii. 71 I could patter volubly enough.
1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps v. 122 He showed off at a great rate, and pattered about his duchesses till the snobbery of the creature turned me sick.
1972 A. Tyler Clock Winder iii. 61 All he could do was tip his head back against his chair and sink into his own private tunnel while she pattered on.
1999 L. Barnes Flashpoint 144 Teri pattered on about the weather cheerfully enough.
b. transitive. Originally slang. To attempt to persuade (a person) by talking rapidly or by using patter (patter n.1 2a). Scottish in later use.
ΚΠ
1781 G. Parker View Society & Manners II. 105 As soon as the steward has withdrawn, the 'Squire begins to patter the widow on the greatness of his estate.
1975 W. McIlvanney Docherty iii. viii. 289 Being a man didn't mean drinking beer and sharing jokes and pattering girls.
1991 J. Kelman Burn (1992) 185 When we were wee he wouldni say boo to a goose. Now he can patter any woman he meets.
3. transitive and intransitive. To speak (a language, jargon, etc.); esp. in to patter (in) flash: to speak criminals' slang or cant (cf. flash adj.3 5b). Also in extended use. Now archaic and rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > using or speaking languages > speak a language [verb (transitive)]
parley1570
spit1701
patter1811
the mind > language > a language > register > [verb (intransitive)] > use (current) slang
cant1648
to patter (in) flash1811
polari1846
the mind > language > a language > register > [verb (intransitive)] > use jargon > of thieves or disreputable people
cant1608
patter1811
1811 Lexicon Balatronicum To Patter, to talk. To patter flash; to speak flash, or the language used by thieves.
1829 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 26 131 I pattered in flash, like a covey knowing.
1857 T. Hughes Tom Brown's School Days i. i. 7 You all patter French more or less.
1872 Punch 6 July 2/1 A gentry cove of the ken does not patter family lingo.
1905 B. Tarkington In Arena 259 Between the acts the orchestra pattered ragtime and inanities from the new comic operas.
1994 T. Clark Junkets on Sad Planet 41 Among those mean streets beneath the bells of Bow I learnt to patter flash.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
patterv.2
/ˈpatə/, U.S. /ˈpædər/ 1.
a. intransitive. To make a rapid succession of light taps or strokes; to beat or drum softly or rhythmically.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [verb (intransitive)] > patter or spatter
pit-a-pat1606
patter1611
spatter1673
pitter1805
pitter-patter1808
happer1825
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Pestiller, to paddle; or, as Petiller; or to patter; to beat thicke and short.
1681 W. Robertson Phraseologia generalis (1693) 980 They come pattering down as thick as hail.
1728 J. Thomson Spring 12 'Tis scarce to patter heard, the stealing Shower.
1796 F. Burney Camilla III. vi. vi. 256 Her eye involuntarily was caught by the shower that pattered upon his head and shoulders.
1818 M. W. Shelley Frankenstein I. iv. 97 The rain pattered dismally against the panes.
1849 Ladies' Repository Aug. 228/1 And then she hears the wild winds whistling about her door, and the rain pattering on the roof.
1884 Harper's Mag. Dec. 82/1 The acorns patter at their feet.
1915 L. M. Montgomery Anne of Island iii. 22 Anne awoke to find raindrops pattering against her window.
1942 E. Langley Pea Pickers vi. 71 Her well-kept head firm under the umbrella on which the rain pattered sadly.
1992 D. Glazer Last Oasis 24 The day she actually swam up to the deep end, she was convinced her heart would stop, it was pattering so fast.
b. transitive. To strike (a person or thing) with a rapid succession of short soft strokes; to cause a thing to fall lightly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [verb (transitive)] > patter or spatter
patter1820
1649 Sc. Souldiers Lament. 19 Why did not God rain down Hell from Heaven, and patter them with great Haile-stones, as hee did the Kings that combined against Joshuah?
1820 J. Keats Eve of St. Agnes in Lamia & Other Poems 101 The frost-wind..pattering the sharp sleet Against the window-panes.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 29 Tempest, beetling loud,..Pattering the acorns from the cups adown.
1884 Harper's Mag. Dec. 156/1 And the fluttering scallop behind would float, And patter the water about the boat.
1934 ‘L. G. Gibbon’ Grey Granite iii. 218 The dirl of little stones pattered the windscreen as the bus ran through a great skellop of tar.
1992 S. King Gerald's Game (1993) ix. 116 She began to patter her fingers on the shelf again.
2. intransitive. To run with quick, light-sounding steps.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > going swiftly on foot > go swiftly on foot [verb (intransitive)] > run > run with short steps
patter1713
1713 J. Smith tr. G. Chaucer in Poems upon Several Occasions 352 Thither arriv'd, he nimbly patter'd o're The rattling Casement, as he did before.
1807 J. Beresford Miseries Human Life II. xx. 263 Hearing a large party pattering up stairs, and all talking at once.
1824 S. E. Ferrier Inheritance viii Away she pattered full speed.
1895 F. E. Trollope F. Trollope II. ix. 162 She pattered downstairs and bestowed a silver sixpence on the..old pauper.
1929 E. Bowen Last September I. i. 2 The dogs came pattering out from the hall and stood beside her.
1950 Brit. Birds 43 25 On almost every occasion when it came down to pick up food it pattered along for a short distance with out-stretched wings.
2003 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 25 Jan. 38 The stout brown birds..pattered on the wet grass by the river.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > liquid flow > action or process of splashing > splash [verb (transitive)] > bespatter > as with a shower
patter1879
1879 R. L. Stevenson Trav. with Donkey 62 The trees would patter me all over with big drops from the rain of the afternoon.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† patterv.3
Australian. Obsolete.
transitive. Esp. in Australian Aboriginal usage: to eat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eat [verb (transitive)]
eatc825
to-fret?c1225
vourc1330
dinec1380
to eat inc1450
engorge1541
tooth1579
canvass1602
get1603
eat1607
manger1609
upeat1630
dispatch1711
feed1725
yam1725
to eat off1733
repartake1751
patter1803
chop1833
smouse1840
to stow away1858
to put oneself outside ——1865
to get outside ——1876
to feed down1887
1790 D. Southwell Corr. & Papers Pāt-ta, to eat.]
1803 J. Grant Narr. Voy. New S. Wales 109 These natives would kill and patter, that is, eat him.
1847 Maitland (New S. Wales) Mercury 27 Oct. 4/4 White fellow too much sick, patter too much jumbuck.
1881 A. C. Grant Bush-life in Queensland xvii. 172 ‘You patter (eat) potchum?’ ‘Yohi’ (yes), said John,..not sure how his stomach will agree with the strange meat.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
<
n.11758
n.21822n.31824v.1a1425v.21611
v.31803