| / English Dictionary |
PAT
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Irregular inflected forms: patted , patting
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A light touch or stroke
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("pat" is a kind of...):
touch; touching (the act of putting two things together with no space between them)
Derivation:
pat (hit lightly)
pat (pat or squeeze fondly or playfully, especially under the chin)
Sense 2
Meaning:
The sound made by a gentle blow
Synonyms:
pat; rap; tap
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("pat" is a kind of...):
sound (the sudden occurrence of an audible event)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "pat"):
pitter-patter (a series of rapid tapping sounds)
Derivation:
pat (hit lightly)
II. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Exactly suited to the occasion
Example:
a pat reply
Classified under:
Similar:
appropriate (suitable for a particular person or place or condition etc)
Derivation:
patness (timely convenience)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Having only superficial plausibility
Example:
a slick commercial
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
plausible (apparently reasonable and credible, and therefore convincing)
III. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they pat ... he / she / it pats
Past simple: patted
Past participle: patted
-ing form: patting
Sense 1
Meaning:
Hit lightly
Example:
pat him on the shoulder
Synonyms:
dab; pat
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "pat" is one way to...):
strike (deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Derivation:
pat (a light touch or stroke)
pat (the sound made by a gentle blow)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Pat or squeeze fondly or playfully, especially under the chin
Synonyms:
chuck; pat
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "pat" is one way to...):
caress; fondle (touch or stroke lightly in a loving or endearing manner)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s something PP
Derivation:
pat (a light touch or stroke)
IV. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Completely or perfectly
Example:
had the system down pat
Classified under:
Context examples:
Then with a little confidential chuckle of laughter, he patted me two or three times on the chest, finally pushing me back into my chair.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The Abbot patted his foot and nodded his head, as one who passes a point but does not forget it.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
"Very well, my son, for a small boy!" and walked him off, with a paternal pat on the head.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
He heard me with the keenest interest, and when I had done he patted me on the head.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Even after that, a long time elapsed before the man and woman succeeded in patting him.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
As he spoke he fearlessly patted the head he had so mercilessly pounded, and though Buck’s hair involuntarily bristled at touch of the hand, he endured it without protest.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
Then the shepherd patted him on the head, and said, Old Sultan has saved our child from the wolf, and therefore he shall live and be well taken care of, and have plenty to eat.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
The poor girl was almost distracted: that quarter of the palace was all in an uproar; the servants ran for ladders; the monkey was seen by hundreds in the court, sitting upon the ridge of a building, holding me like a baby in one of his forepaws, and feeding me with the other, by cramming into my mouth some victuals he had squeezed out of the bag on one side of his chaps, and patting me when I would not eat; whereat many of the rabble below could not forbear laughing; neither do I think they justly ought to be blamed, for, without question, the sight was ridiculous enough to every body but myself.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
Mr. Mell still looked at him, and still patted me kindly on the shoulder, and said to himself, in a whisper, if I heard right: “Yes, I thought so.”
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
"Now growl, damn you, growl," he said, as he patted the responsive head and rubbed the flattening ears.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
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