rat-a-tat

noun

ˈra-tə-ˌtat 

variants or rat-a-tat-tat

ˌra-tə-ˌta(t)-ˈtat 

: 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

Word History

Etymology

imitative

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for rat-a-tat

• acrobat
• autocrat
• automat
• bundesrat
• bureaucrat
• butterfat
• caveat
• chemostat
• copycat
• cryostat
• democrat
• diplomat