(v. i.) To strike with a quick succession of slight, sharp sounds; as, pattering rain or hail; pattering feet.
(v. i.) To mutter; to mumble; as, to patter with the lips.
(v. i.) To talk glibly; to chatter; to harangue.
(v. t.) To spatter; to sprinkle.
(v. i.) To mutter; as prayers.
(n.) A quick succession of slight sounds; as, the patter of rain; the patter of little feet.
(n.) Glib and rapid speech; a voluble harangue.
(n.) The cant of a class; patois; as, thieves's patter; gypsies' patter.
Example Sentences:
(1) A light rain pattered the rooftops of Los Mochis in Friday’s pre-dawn darkness, the town silent and still as the Sea of Cortez lapped its shore.
(2) When the effects of clonidine on food-reinforced operant responding were investigated it was observed that SD and SH rats differed with regard to rate and temporal pattering of IRT greater than 20 sec responding.
(3) However, despite the visibility of some Russians in the capital, Cameron's 2011 sales patter did not turn Russia into a major destination for British exporters: German machine tools and French military aircraft are worth far more to Russia than British goods.
(4) The actor Steven Berkoff, who had met Biggs in 1987, when making a film about him that both agreed was "a load of cobblers", praised his "most terrific patter".
(5) This raised the possibility that some selection or strengthening of this unspecific patter is involved in the evolution of the specific membrane patterns of the individual cells of higher organisms.
(6) The polypeptide patter of SMRV as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was distinct from the reported polypeptide patterns of known retraviruses.
(7) As for Boris Johnson, the Labour MP Rupa Huc reminded Radio 4 listeners that the London mayor has a line of patter in “ flag-waving piccaninnies ” and “watermelon smiles”.
(8) Little hands pattered on the walls, and little voices outside persisted: "Do you speak English?
(9) And when they emerge into the daylight, the chancellor could, once again, be left looking like a salesman who can’t resist overdoing the patter.
(10) Blackburn's transatlantic DJ's patter is currently one of the prolific voices on Audioboo.
(11) The fascinating pitter-patter of stomach contents against the back of your teeth as a fearsome torrent of spew erupts from within like a liquid poltergeist fleeing an exorcism.
(12) Although total weight loss during starvation was never greater for HFD rats than for chow-fed rats, the former group showed a clear patter of increasing loss of body fat and total energy and conservation of fat-free tissues with periods of starvation later in life.
(13) The main psychiatric findings are diminished intelligence, retardation in development of secondary sexual characteristics, and poor emotional control leading to inadequate social adaptive patters which are described and discussed.
(14) The normal patter of joint incongruity in the rabbit's hip having first been established, three groups of experimental animals underwent operative procedures designed to reduce the joint pressure to a level unrealistic in normal life.
(15) The following constellations proved to be useful in assessing the effect of secretolytic drugs: (1) change in deposition patter; (2) clearance rate, if no change in deposition takes place; (3) clearance rate from a peripheral area of the lung.
(16) Next week the directors are heading to the US, to give the same sales patter to investors who have asked to see them in New York, Denver, Chicago, California and Boston.
(17) His well-rehearsed patter about his record does not mention the toll on jobs.
(18) The blotting patters obtained were correlated with the clinical findings, with particular reference to prodromal itching, lesion morphology and severity, mucosal involvement, presence of milia, dapsone responsiveness and disease duration.
(19) The rain was falling on the canvas with a pattering sound.
(20) Bill’s weary patter last night on the subjects of working families, and something something community-and-something-something-renewable-energy targets may be carefully constructed verbiage to target we-share-your-concerns to swinging voters, but Labor’s present strategy wholly avoids speaking to those that Labor crucially needs to deliver both an election win and a majority large enough to ensure space for policy implementation and future planning.
Ratter
Definition:
(n.) One who, or that which, rats, as one who deserts his party.
(n.) Anything which catches rats; esp., a dog trained to catch rats; a rat terrier. See Terrier.
Example Sentences:
(1) I rather like Bryant – a "little wire-haired ratter", according to Daphne – who becomes increasingly bombastic as the book proceeds.