pitter-patter
verbEtymology Reduplication of patter.
1
To patter; to scurry.
- The rain was coming down heavier now, the drops pitter-pattering on the roof of the truck.1996, Stephen Leather, The Double Tap, BCA, page 97:
pitter-patter
nounUK /ˈpɪt.əˈpæt.ə/ · US /ˈpɪt.ɚˈpæt.ɚ/
Etymology Reduplication of patter.
1
A soft, percussive sound, as of tiny feet, or of rain on a rooftop; patter.
- Once or twice I heard a faint pitter-patter like the feet of the dog going hither and thither on the sand far below me, and there were more bird-like sounds, but that was all.1895–1897, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “The Stillness”, in The War of the Worlds, London: William Heinemann, published 1898, →OCLC, book II (The Earth under the Martians), page 237:
- Pitter-patter the rain falling down / Little glamor sun coming round / Take a walk when autumn comes to town1973, Van Morrison, “Autumn Song”: