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pat

Pronunciation: /pæt/

The English word “pat” has 13 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. The sound of a light slap or tap with a soft flat object, especially of a footstep.
  2. A light tap or slap, especially with the hands.
  3. A flattish lump of soft matter, especially butter or dung.

verb

  1. To (gently) tap the flat of one's hand on a person or thing.
  2. To hit lightly and repeatedly with the flat of the hand to make smooth or flat
  3. To stroke or fondle (an animal). Compare pet.
  4. To gently rain.

adjective

  1. Exactly suitable, fitting, apt; timely, convenient, opportune, ready for the occasion; especially of things spoken.
  2. Trite, being superficially complete, lacking originality.
  3. Upper-class, nobby.

adverb

  1. Opportunely, in a timely or suitable way.
  2. Perfectly.
  3. Straight, right, exactly, precisely.

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”),…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.