How do you use the word "pat" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "pat": Pat stripped off his clothes and dived in. Pat is very talkative.

Pat Meaning

/pæt/

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounThe sound of a light slap or tap with a soft flat object, especially of a footstep.

nounA light tap or slap, especially with the hands.

Sentence Examples

Pat stripped off his clothes and dived in.

Pat is very talkative.

Pat had prepared food and drink for the work party.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

tap rap chuck

Antonyms:

inappropriate implausible

CEFR Practice Quiz

She gave the scared dog a gentle ____ on its head to calm it.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

She gave the dog a gentle ____ on the head and praised it for following the command correctly.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English pat (“a blow, stroke”), alteration (with loss of medial l) of *plat (> Scots plat (“a blow, buffet”)), from Old English plætt (“a sounding blow, a smack”), from Proto-West Germanic *platt (“a smack, slap, blow”), from Proto-Germanic *plat- (“to strike, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *blod-, *bled- (“to strike, beat”). Cognate with Middle Dutch plat (“a smack, blow, slap”), Middle Low German plat (“a smack, blow, beating”), Middle High German plaz, blaz (“a resounding blow, bang, crash”). For loss of l, compare patch for platch; pate for plate, etc. See plat.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"It looked like a tessellated work of pats of butter." — 1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter 45, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC:

"He came round to each of us to pat and speak to us for the last time; his voice sounded very sad." — [1877], Anna Sewell, “Earlshall”, in Black Beauty: […], London: Jarrold and Sons, […], →OCLC, part II, page 103:

"Before they went to see Glinda, however, they were taken to a room of the Castle, where Dorothy washed her face and combed her hair, and the Lion shook the dust out of his mane, and the Scarecrow patted himself into his best shape, and the Woodman polished his tin and oiled his joints." — 1900 May 17, L[yman] Frank Baum, chapter 23, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Ill.; New York, N.Y.: Geo[rge] M[elvin] Hill Co., →OCLC:

"Your scruples and arguments bring to my mind a story so pat, you may think it is coin’d, on purpose to answer you, out of my mint; but, I can assure you, I saw it in print." — 1788, William Cowper, Pity For Poor Africans 17–20

"Come, stack arms, Men! Pile on the rails; stir up the campfire bright; no matter if the canteen fails, we'll make a roaring night. Here Shenandoah brawls along, there burly Blue Ridge echoes strong, to swell the Brigade's rousing song, of “Stonewall Jackson’s Way.” We see him now — the old slouched hat cocked o’er his eye askew, the shrewd, dry smile, the speech so pat, so calm, so blunt, so true." — 1862, John Williamson Palmer, Stonewall Jackson's Way

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