pitter-patter

1. 1.

   as of footsteps

   “he came running pit-a-pat down the hall”

   Synonymspit-a-patpitty-pattypitty-pat
2. 2.

   describing a rhythmic beating

   “his heart went pit-a-pat”

   Synonymspit-a-patpitty-pattypitty-pat

1. 1.

   a series of rapid tapping sounds

   “she missed the pitter-patter of little feet around the house”

   Broaderpat

Questions about pitter-patter

What does pitter-patter mean?

pitter-patter means "rain gently". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in pitter-patter?

pitter-patter has 4 syllables and divides as pit-ter--pat-ter under the regular spelling rules. It is not in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, so that comes from how the word is written rather than from a recorded pronunciation, and no stress or phonetic transcription is claimed for it.

What is another word for pitter-patter?

Close synonyms include sprinkle, spit, spatter, patter, patter. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is pitter-patter a common word?

pitter-patter is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.