pat
Part of speech: noun
verb
adj
adv
Morphological type: simple
Etymology: From Middle English pat (“a blow, stroke”), alteration (with loss of medial l) of *plat (> Scots plat (“a blow, buffet”)), from Old English plætt (“a sounding blow, a smack”), from Proto-West Germanic *platt (“a smack, slap, blow”), from Proto-Germanic *plat- (“to strike, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *blod-, *bled- (“to strike, beat”). Cognate with Middle Dutch plat (“a smack, blow, slap”), Middle Low German plat (“a smack, blow, beating”), Middle High German plaz, blaz (“a resounding blow, bang, crash”). For loss of l, compare patch for platch; pate for plate, etc. See plat.
Inflected forms:
form: pats
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: pats
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: patting
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: patted
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: patted
pos: verb
tags: past
form: more pat
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most pat
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: more pat
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: most pat
pos: adv
tags: superlative
Senses:
gloss: The sound of a light slap or tap with a soft flat object, especially of a footstep.
pos: noun
examples: We heard a pat on the door.
gloss: A light tap or slap, especially with the hands.
pos: noun
examples: Give Mary a pat on the shoulder to get her attention.
gloss: A flattish lump of soft matter, especially butter or dung.
pos: noun
examples: It looked like a tessellated work of pats of butter.
gloss: To (gently) tap the flat of one's hand on a person or thing.
pos: verb
examples: To show affection, he decided he would pat the boy on the head.
He came round to each of us to pat and speak to us for the last time; his voice sounded very sad.
gloss: To hit lightly and repeatedly with the flat of the hand to make smooth or flat
pos: verb
examples: I patted the cookie dough into shape.
Before they went to see Glinda, however, they were taken to a room of the Castle, where Dorothy washed her face and combed her hair, and the Lion shook the dust out of his mane, and the Scarecrow patted himself into his best shape, and the Woodman polished his tin and oiled his joints.
gloss: To stroke or fondle (an animal). Compare pet.
pos: verb
tags: Australia
New-Zealand
South-Africa
UK
examples: Do you want to pat the cat?
gloss: To gently rain.
pos: verb
gloss: Exactly suitable, fitting, apt; timely, convenient, opportune, ready for the occasion; especially of things spoken.
pos: adj
examples: a pat expression
Your scruples and arguments bring to my mind a story so pat, you may think it is coin’d, on purpose to answer you, out of my mint; but, I can assure you, I saw it in print.
Come, stack arms, Men! Pile on the rails; stir up the campfire bright; no matter if the canteen fails, we'll make a roaring night. Here Shenandoah brawls along, there burly Blue Ridge echoes strong, to swell the Brigade's rousing song, of “Stonewall Jackson’s Way.”
We see him now — the old slouched hat cocked o’er his eye askew, the shrewd, dry smile, the speech so pat, so calm, so blunt, so true.
gloss: Trite, being superficially complete, lacking originality.
pos: adj
examples: While most AIDS activists and researchers I spoke with agreed I shouldn't offer pat safe/unsafe categories, let me share some pretty widely accepted information.
The pat answer is that college students should consider graduate school as a way to delay a job search until things turn around, and that more high school students should go to college to improve their prospects.
Space Jam: A New Legacy takes almost nothing but wrong turns, all leading to a glittering CGI trash heap of cameos, pat life lessons, and stale internet catchphrases.
Pat responses from management seemed to be multiple variations on the theme of “We value your feedback.”
gloss: Opportunely, in a timely or suitable way.
pos: adv
examples: Now might I do it pat
gloss: Perfectly.
pos: adv
examples: He has the routine down pat.
gloss: Straight, right, exactly, precisely.
pos: adv
examples: Wauwa Pease says of the strategic position of the Pirates in the dining room: “They have taken the table near the upper doorway so they can make a speedy exit in case their lair is raided.” Of course, the Wauwas stand pat in the middle of the dining room, having nothing to fear.
His nose sitteth flat on the face of him as it were a dab of clay, and I can see pat up his nostrils a summer day’s journey into his head.
Candidates in gubernatorial campaigns must stand pat in the middle, trying to push their rivals off the center line, charging the opponent with either left or right extremism.
In Ogoni[land], Shell locations lie pat in the middle of villages, in front and back gardens – and that should lay a particular responsibility on Shell to be absolutely cautious in its operations.
Related words: feel
hit
name
strike
Derived words: asspat
back-pat
butter pat
cow pat
cowpat
down pat
headpat
lovepat
off pat
pat hand
pat on the back
pat slide
patter
pitter-pat
patball
bepat
pat down
pattable
unpatted
patly
patness
stand pat
Translations:
lang: Bulgarian
word: потупвам
roman: potupvam
lang: Catalan
word: acariciar
lang: Catalan
word: donar copets (a l'esquena)
lang: Catalan
word: passar la mà
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 拍
roman: pāi
lang: Esperanto
word: tapeti
lang: Finnish
word: taputtaa
lang: French
word: tapoter
lang: German
word: tippen
lang: German
word: tätscheln
lang: Gujarati
word: થાબડવું
roman: thābaṛvũ
lang: Hungarian
word: paskol
lang: Hungarian
word: lapogat
lang: Irish
word: slíoc
lang: Japanese
word: 撫でる
roman: naderu
lang: Japanese
word: 摩する
roman: sasuru
lang: Māori
word: pōpō
lang: Māori
word: hokomirimiri
lang: Māori
word: taupaki
lang: Portuguese
word: dar um tapinha
lang: Russian
word: похло́пывать
roman: poxlópyvatʹ
lang: Russian
word: хло́пать
roman: xlópatʹ
lang: Russian
word: похло́пать
roman: poxlópatʹ
lang: Scottish Gaelic
word: slìog
lang: Spanish
word: dar una palmadita
lang: Spanish
word: acariciar
lang: Spanish
word: apapachar
lang: Spanish
word: apapuchar
lang: Spanish
word: palmear
lang: Swedish
word: klappa