▪ I. patter, n.1
(ˈpætə(r))
[f. patter v.1, sense 3.]
1. a. The cant or secret language of thieves or beggars, ‘pedlars' French’; the peculiar lingo of any profession or class; any language not generally understood.
| 1758 Jon. Wild's Adv. to Successor (Hotten's Slang Dict.), The master who teaches them [young thieves] should be..well versed in the cant language commonly called the slang patter. 178. Parker Life's Painter 136 Gammon and Patter is the language of cant. 1796 Grose's Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Gamon and Patter, common-place talk of any profession; as the gamon and patter of a horse-dealer, sailor, etc. 1875 G. J. Whyte-Melville Katerfelto x. (1876) 110 ‘That's my name in your patter’, said the gipsy. 1884 May Crommelin Brown-Eyes vi. 57 It was so delightful to walk demurely..and talk a patter not understood of the other children. |
b. The slang or cant name for the oratory of a cheapjack in disposing of his wares, a mountebank, conjurer, or the like; also, for talk, ‘jaw’, ‘speechifying’ of any kind.
| 178. Parker Life's Painter 163 Gammon and Patter, Jaw talk, etc. 1800 Sporting Mag. XVI. 26 [He] was obligated to tip them a little patter. 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Patter'd, tried in a court of justice; a man who has under⁓gone this ordeal, is said to have stood the patter. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 222, I heard, also,..of boys having of late ‘taken to the running patter’ when anything attractive was before the public. 1873 Besant & Rice Little Girl ii. xiii. 139 ‘He ain't no good, that teacher’, said the boy. ‘You go on with your patter. We're a listenin' to you’. 1880 J. A. Fuller-Maitland in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 673/2 ‘Patter’ is the..slang name for the kind of gabbling speech with which a cheap-jack extols his wares or a conjurer distracts the attention of the audience while performing his tricks. |
c. colloq. A contemptuous designation of ‘talk’; mere talk; chatter, gabble.
| 1858 Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. I. xlix. 191 There had been a patter too, about religion, which had strengthened the belief that justice was the glory of a nation. 1865 Cornh. Mag. Dec. 664, I think you might have saved her from the chatter and patter of Mr. Watson; I can only stand it when I am in the strongest health. 1887 North Star 2 May 3/3 All this, of course, was mere platform patter. |
2. Rapid speech introduced into a song; also, familiarly, the words of a song, comedy, etc. Now spec., the speech of a comedian or a stage magician.
| 1876 Athenæum 4 Nov. 603/2 He speaks admirably what is called ‘patter’, and he delivers a jargon in ridicule of scientific terminology. 1880 J. A. Fuller-Maitland in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 673/2 Mozart and many other composers often introduce bits of ‘patter’ into buffo solos, as for instance the middle of ‘Madamina’ in ‘Don Juan’, etc. 1885 J. K. Jerome On the Stage 53 In the provinces, I have known a three-act comedy put on without any rehearsal at all, and with half the people not even knowing the patter. 1949 Amer. Speech XXIV. 40 Anything he says while performing is patter, and he almost never says silk handkerchief, but simply calls it a silk. 1952 Granville Dict. Theatr. Terms 134 Patter, quick speeches uttered between their songs by music-hall comedians. 1965 G. Melly Owning-Up vi. 59, I can still remember some of the abysmal patter which he delivered. 1976 Liverpool Echo 6 Dec. 10/5 Songs and patter formed the mainstay of his senior citizens' act which has already won awards and will doubtless claim more. |
3. attrib. and Comb., as patter-act, patter-allusion, patter-speech; patter-song, a humorous song in which a large number of words are fitted to a few notes and sung rapidly.
| 1823 C. Mathews Let. 23 Feb. in A. Mathews Mem. Charles Mathews (1839) III. xvii. 385 The only striking subject for a patter-song is the inordinate love of title. 1839 J. Adolphus Mem. John Bannister I. xii. 234 It formed the precedent for what are now, in the technical slang, called ‘patter songs’. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. xxxix, Little Swills, in what are professionally known as ‘patter’ allusions to the subject, is received with loud applause. 1880 J. A. Fuller-Maitland in Grove Dict. Mus. II. 673/2 The operettas of Messrs. Burnand, Gilbert, and Sullivan, in all of which patter-songs fill an important place. 1891 Pall Mall G. 6 Nov. 3/2 Foote's patter-speech beginning ‘So she went into the garden to cut a cabbage leaf to make an apple-pie’. 1965 Listener 23 Dec. 1050/2 The Barber himself a buffo bass,..has a famous Gilbertian patter song, with compound rhyming. 1972 Times 24 June 11/3 A patter act is usually written so that the lines sometimes don't finish. 1975 Ibid. 13 Mar. 328/3 His characters, his funny voices, his patter song. |
▪ II. patter, n.2
(ˈpætə(r))
[f. patter v.2]
The action or fact of pattering; a quick succession of pats, taps, or similar slight sounds.
| 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. lv, The patter-patter of horses' feet. 1863 Ld. Lytton Ring Amasis II. ii. iii. ii. 192 The dead leaves..kept up a continual patter on the window panes, like the tapping of elfin fingers. |
b. Phr. the patter of little (or tiny) feet: used to suggest the presence of young children or the expectation of the birth of a child. See pattering vbl. n.2 and ppl. a.2
| 1863 Longfellow Tales of Wayside Inn 209, I hear in the chamber above me The patter of little feet, The sound of a door that is opened, And voices soft and sweet. 1883 Ld. R. Gower My Remin. II. xxi. 28 The patter of little feet, and the unconscious joyousness of children. 1924 N. Coward Rat Trap iii. 68 And we're to expect little clinging fingers and the patter of tiny feet. 1945 E. Bowen Demon Lover 66 They knew there was going to be the patter of little feet. I wasn't actually born..till 1918. 1966 Guardian 29 Dec. 14/1 At any time now, the patter of little feet is expected to indicate that Helga's dream has at last come true... Helga is a polar bear. 1972 Daily Tel. 8 May 12 Amen Court..resounds with the patter of tiny feet... The Rev. Patrick Tuft, the Succentor, has become the father of triplet boys. 1977 Times 29 Oct. 20/1 Expectant motherhood these days is marked less by the patter of tiny feet than the tinkling of cash registers. |
▪ III. patter, v.1
(ˈpætə(r))
Forms: 4–5 patre(n, 6 pattur, (Sc. -ir), 6– -er.
[f. pater 1 = Paternoster: from the rapid and mechanical way in which the Latin prayers were often repeated.]
† 1. intr. To repeat the Paternoster or other prayer, esp. in a rapid, mechanical, or indistinct fashion; to mumble or mutter one's prayers. Obs.
| c 1400 Rom. Rose 6794 For labour might me neuer please I..haue well leuer, sooth to say Before the people patter and pray. Ibid. 7241 Vs that stynten neuer mo To patren while that folk may vs see. c 1450 St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1672 He saw him wende into the water Nakyd and thar in stande and pater In his prayers. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems xiii. 18 Sum patteris with his mowth on beidis, That hes his mynd all on oppressioun. 1530 Palsgr. 655/1, I patter with the lyppes, as one dothe that maketh as though he prayed and dothe nat, je papelarde. 1612 Trav. four Englishm. Pref. 12 Others pattering on beades, and making large vowes. 1642 Rogers Naaman 333 How shall we speake to the purpose but patter? |
2. trans. To say over, repeat, or recite (prayers, charms, etc.) in a rapid mechanical manner.
| c 1394 P. Pl. Crede 6 A and all myn A. b. c. after haue y lerned, And patred in my pater-noster iche poynt after oþer. 1530 Tindale Answ. More Wks. (1573) 271/2 While the Priest pattereth S. Iohns Gospell in Latine ouer their heades. 1538 Starkey England i. iv. 132 They can no thyng dow but pattur vp theyr matyns and mas. 1546 J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 32 Pattryng the diuels Pater noster to hir selfe. 1632 Lithgow Trav. ix. 411 For want of pattering an abridged Pater. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 980 To patter out prayers, recitare. 1710 Ruddiman Gloss. Douglas' æneis s.v. Patteraris, In some places..they yet say..to patter out Prayers, i.e. mutter or mumble them. 1805 Scott Last Minstr. ii. vi, For mass or prayer can I rarely tarry, Save to patter an Ave Mary. 1856 Bryant Ages xx, The well-fed inmates pattered prayer, and slept. |
3. a. intr. To talk rapidly, fluently, or glibly, without much regard to sense or matter; to chatter, jabber; to prattle. b. In Pedlars' slang, To talk, to speak; to ‘speechify’ as a cheapjack does in extolling his wares, or a conjurer while performing his tricks. c. To talk the slang or ‘patter’ of thieves, beggars, etc.
| c 1420 Lydg. Story Thebes Prol. 163 Shet your portoos a twenty deuelwaye! Is no disport so to patere and seie. c 1440 York Myst. xxxv. 266 Me thynke he patris like a py. 1589 Nashe Month's Mind Wks. (Grosart) I. 173 See how like the old Ape this young Monkey pattereth. 1642 Rogers Naaman 344 You were as good hold your tongues as patter about them. a 1814 C. Dibdin Poor Jack i, Go patter to lubbers and swabs, d'ye see. 1829 Blackw. Mag. XXVI. 131, I pattered in flash, like a covey knowing. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 309/2 Those who sell something, and patter to help off their goods; those who exhibit something, and patter to help off the show. 1897 Sporting Times 13 Mar. 1/3 She did it in a sort of ‘it's of no consequence’ way that fairly amazed the learned counsel who was pattering on her behalf. |
4. trans. (slang.) To speak or talk (some language); to patter flash, to speak slang. Also transf.
| 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Patter, to talk, as He patters good flash. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown i. i, You all patter French more or less. 1872 Punch 6 July 2/1 A gentry cove of the ken does not patter family lingo. 1905 B. Tarkington In Arena 259 Between the acts the orchestra pattered ragtime and inanities from the new comic operas. |
Hence ˈpattering vbl. n.1 and ppl. a.1
| a 1536 Tindale Exp. Matt. vi. Wks. (1573) 232/1 How blinde are they which thinke prayer to be the pattering of many wordes. 1557–8 T. Phaer æneid vi. P iij, Whan furst her [the Sibyl's] pattring mouth and raging limmes wer left at rest, Eneas prinse began. 1665 R. Brathwait Comment Two Tales 16 What a pattering with their Lips, as if they would cry out! 1850 W. R. Williams Relig. Progr. i. (1854) 22 Leaving the nursery and its pattering by rote of elementary truths. |
▪ IV. patter, v.2
(ˈpætə(r))
[Dim. and frequent. of pat v.1: see -er5.]
1. intr. To make a rapid succession of pats, taps, or slight sounding strokes, such as those of rain-drops against a window-pane; often referring mainly to the sound produced.
| 1611 Cotgr., Pestiller, to paddle; or, as Petiller; or to patter; to beat thicke and short. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 980 They come pattering down as thick as hail. 1728–46 Thomson Spring 176 The stealing shower is scarce to patter heard. 1818 M. W. Shelley Frankenst. v. (1865) 65 The rain pattered dismally against the panes. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. II. 79, I heard the sound of little feet pattering outside of the door. 1884 Harper's Mag. Dec. 82/1 The acorns patter at their feet. |
2. intr. To run with a rapid succession of short quick sounding steps.
| 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) xx. xiii. 269 Hearing a large party pattering up stairs, and all talking at once. 1824 S. E. Ferrier Inher. viii, Away she pattered full speed. 1864 Tennyson Grandmother xx, Pattering over the boards, she comes and goes at her will. 1895 F. E. Trollope F. Trollope II. ix. 162 She pattered downstairs and bestowed a silver sixpence on the..old pauper. |
3. trans. (causal.) To cause to come or fall with a rapid succession of short slight sounding strokes.
| 1819 Keats St. Agnes xxxvi, The frost-wind..pattering the sharp sleet Against the window-panes. 1821 Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 29 Tempest, beetling loud,..Pattering the acorns from the cups adown. 1884 J. R. Drake Culprit Fay in Harper's Mag. Dec. 156/1 And the fluttering scallop behind would float, And patter the water about the boat. |
b. To pelt or bespatter as with a shower.
| 1879 Stevenson Trav. Cevennes 62 The trees would patter me all over with big drops from the rain of the afternoon. |
Hence ˈpattering vbl. n.2 and ppl. a.2 (freq. with allusion to patter n.2 b).
| 1697 Dryden æneid ix. 910 Patt'ring Hail comes pouring on the Main. 1792 F. Burney Lett. 2 Oct., In the midst of pattering showers and cloudy skies. 1801 Southey Thalaba i. xlviii, The pattering of the shower. 1849 Longfellow Kavanagh xi. 40 With these day⁓dreams mingled confusedly the pattering of little feet. 1884 May Crommelin Brown-Eyes ii. 14 Eager to hear the little pattering feet. 1886 Ruskin Præterita I. 288 Cliffs, with a pretty pattering stream at the bottom. 1891 T. Hardy Tess (1900) 116/2 A pattering of hoofs on the soil of the field. 1903 Beerbohm Around Theatres (1953) 257 Napoleon may..drill a squad of small children. But..his motive..was not a delight in pattering feet and chubby cheeks. 1955 M. Ewer No Abiding Place vii. 112 No pattering feet on the way? 1962 A. Lejeune Duel in Shadows vi. 81 All was sweetness and light,..and the pattering of tiny feet round the Christmas tree. |
▪ V. patter, v.3 Austral. pigeon-Eng.
(ˈpætə(r))
[App. from a native lang. In Collins Vocab. Port Jackson Dialect.]
trans. To eat.
| 1833 C. Sturt S. Australia II. vii. 223 He himself did not patter (eat) any of it. 1881 A. C. Grant Bush Life xvii. 172 ‘You patter (eat) potchum?’ ‘Yohi’ (yes), said John,..not sure how his stomach will agree with the strange meat. |