Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • interjection The sound made by knocking on a door with a hard object (such as a door knocker).
  • interjection The sound made by firing an automatic machine gun.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Onomatopoeic.

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Examples

  • From the rear arose the rat-tat-tat of clubs on heads and a pandemonium of cursing, yelling, and shouting.

    SOUTH OF THE SLOT 2010

  • It is through interviewing World War II veterans that he find the telling details that give narrative history a heartbeat and enable it to rise above the rat-tat-tat chronology of an after-action report.

    The Things They Buried James D. Hornfischer 2011

  • From above came the slapping of canvas and the quivering rat-tat-tat of the after leech of the loosely stretched foresail.

    The Lost Poacher 2010

  • From on deck came the jar of sheet-blocks and the rat-tat-tat of the reef-points against the canvas.

    A SON OF THE SUN 2010

  • Then, like clockwork, a distant rat-tat-tat as the rest of Alpha squad exchanged carefully staged, nonlethal gunfire in an alley much like this one.

    Deadly Promises Sherrilyn Kenyon 2010

  • And I laughed at that, out loud, as everyone kept the Ave Marias going at full speed, rat-tat-tat.

    Learning to Die in Miami Carlos Eire 2010

  • The rat-tat-tat of the snare joined and the bagpipes came in low.

    Four Thousand Dollars from Baghdad 2010

  • The Frenchman conjures up a break point at one game all after winning a rat-tat-tat exchange at the net.

    Wimbledon 2010 live blog: 23 June Xan Brooks at Wimbledon 2010

  • Basically a love triangle involving a crime boss (George Bancroft), the alcoholic former lawyer he saves from the gutter (Clive Brook), and the girl torn between the two men (Evelyn Brent), the movie also features lots of rat-tat-tat action as the mobster rids himself of a key criminal rival.

    John Farr: Classic "Under The Radar" Gangster Movies 2010

  • What a carpel tunnel-inducing rat-tat-tat of keystrokes we've all had to waste on HRC indignation.

    New Hillary Ad In Montana: No Mention Of Obama 2009

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