rat-a-tat
noun
variants
or rat-a-tat-tat
: a rapid succession of knocking, tapping, or cracking sounds
Examples of rat-a-tat in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Only the heel of a woman's oxford pump could make that sort of solid but somehow dainty rat-a-tat-tat.
—
Danielle Parker, CBS News, 9 June 2026
The very utterance of the pairing — Stabler to Biletnikoff — has a nice rat-a-tat-tat sound to it.
—Steve Buckley, New York Times, 2 June 2026
The regular-size kid that followed in their wake kept up a constant rat-a-tat on his drum.
—Lee Marshall, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 May 2026
Once Ida is revived, Buckley is rife with tics and guttural asides, switching between rat-a-tat mobster slang and Shelley’s flowery English prose like some postmodern literary Gollum.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2026
Matt and Pete had stuck around to rat-a-tat their vamp.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
In his mesmerizing, rat-a-tat, expletive-riddled style, Evans nonchalantly recalls the almost unbelievable trajectory of his life, leaving the reader barely able to catch her breath.
—Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 9 Feb. 2026
Still have that rat-a-tat-tat on the sideline.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2026
But Kilgo had been used to the rat-a-tat-tat of constant newspaper deadlines.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 28 Jan. 2026
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Danielle Parker, CBS News, 9 June 2026
The very utterance of the pairing — Stabler to Biletnikoff — has a nice rat-a-tat-tat sound to it.
—Steve Buckley, New York Times, 2 June 2026
The regular-size kid that followed in their wake kept up a constant rat-a-tat on his drum.
—Lee Marshall, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 May 2026
Once Ida is revived, Buckley is rife with tics and guttural asides, switching between rat-a-tat mobster slang and Shelley’s flowery English prose like some postmodern literary Gollum.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2026
Matt and Pete had stuck around to rat-a-tat their vamp.
—Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026
In his mesmerizing, rat-a-tat, expletive-riddled style, Evans nonchalantly recalls the almost unbelievable trajectory of his life, leaving the reader barely able to catch her breath.
—Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 9 Feb. 2026
Still have that rat-a-tat-tat on the sideline.
—Cam Inman, Mercury News, 28 Jan. 2026
But Kilgo had been used to the rat-a-tat-tat of constant newspaper deadlines.
—Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 28 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Rat-a-tat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rat-a-tat. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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