pat

PAT/pæt/

Verbpats, patting, patted

Noun pluralpats

13 meanings of pat

Practice

1
tap lightlyverbtransitive
To touch or tap someone or something gently with the flat of the hand, as to comfort, show affection, or dry it.
The coach would pat each player on the back as they came off the field.
The guard patted his jacket pockets, looking for his missing badge.
UsageOften pat someone on the back, on the head or on the shoulder.
Similartap
2
a light tapnouncountable
A light tap or slap, especially one given with the open hand.
He gave the horse a reassuring pat on the neck before swinging into the saddle.
With a quick pat on his arm, she slipped past him into the kitchen.
UsageUsually a pat on the back, head or arm. A pat on the back also means praise.
Similartap, touch
3
smooth downverbtransitive
To tap something lightly and repeatedly with the flat of the hand so as to make it smooth or flat.
Gently pat the soil down around the roots of each seedling.
He patted the ground beef into four thick rounds and set them on the grill.
UsageOften with down, flat or into: pat the soil down, pat the dough into shape.
Similarpress, shape
4
exactlyadverb
In an exact or perfect way; precisely or directly, as when something lies right in the middle of a place.
His nose sitteth flat on the face of him as it were a dab of clay, and I can see pat up his nostrils a summer day’s journey into his head.
1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance
Similarsquarely, exactly, precisely
Note
Here pat sharpens a phrase of place, much as right does: in Ken Saro-Wiwa's A Month and a Day (1995), Shell sites lie pat in the middle of villages, and Newsweek in 1962 has candidates stand pat in the middle. E. R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros (1922) stretches it to a line of sight, seeing pat up his nostrils.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts
Ken Saro-Wiwa wrote A Month and a Day, first published in 1995. lucas.leeds.ac.uk
The book describes Shell locations lying pat in the middle of villages. nigeriareposit.nln.gov.ng
Newsweek used stand pat in the middle about candidates in 1962. en.wiktionary.org
E. R. Eddison wrote The Worm Ouroboros, first published in 1922. gutenberg.org
The novel uses pat up his nostrils to describe a line of sight; the character speaking is Lord Zigg. en.wikisource.org
5
unoriginaladjective
Sounding complete on the surface but trite and unoriginal, typically of an answer, explanation or lesson.
The senator gave a pat answer about "working across the aisle" and took the next question.
Real grief rarely fits the pat explanations offered in self-help books.
UsageUsually before a noun: a pat answer, a pat explanation.
Similartrite, stock, hackneyed, stale, banal
Oppositeoriginal, fresh
Note
Where trite only says an answer is worn, pat adds that it looks finished: it closes the question without doing the thinking, which is why it suits complaints about management, advice and films alike.
6
small lumpnouncountable
A flattish lump of some soft substance, especially butter or dung.
The waiter set a pat of butter beside each bread plate.
Flies hovered over a fresh pat of dung in the middle of the pasture.
UsageMost often a pat of butter.
Similarknob, lump
7
invention rightsnounabbreviationclipping
Short for patent: a government grant allowing its holder to stop others from making, using or selling an invention without permission for a limited time.
The lawsuit claims the rival charger copies the design protected by U.S. Pat. No. 9,876,543.
Each bottle opener in the auction lot was stamped "Pat. Apr. 2, 1912" on its handle.
Note
It lives mostly in writing, as the shorthand stamped on manufactured goods or set before a number in a legal citation: Pat. No. 9,876,543. It can stand for patent in any of its senses, and on goods it means the grant that gives its holder the right to exclude others from making, selling or using an invention.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 1 fact
A patent gives its holder the right to exclude others from making, selling or using the invention; it does not itself grant permission to do those things. uspto.gov

Less common meanings

8
soft soundnouncountable
The sound of a light slap or tap made by something soft and flat, especially a footstep.
The pat of bare feet on the tiles told her the children were awake.
A faint pat against the tent wall made him wonder whether a moth had landed.
Similarpatter, tap
Note
The word began as a blow: Old English plættan meant to buffet, slap or give a sounding blow, and Middle English platten lost its l along the way to pat. The force has gone out of it since, but the sound has stayed, and here the sound is the whole meaning: the soft slap of bare feet on tiles, or a pat on the door.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Pat derives from a word meaning a blow or stroke. en.wiktionary.org
Old English plættan meant to buffet, slap or give a sounding blow. en.wiktionary.org
The development from Middle English platten to pat involved loss of l. en.wiktionary.org
9
adjective
Exactly fitting and ready for the occasion, coming at just the right moment; used especially of something said.
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
Similarready, apt, neat
Note
Praise and suspicion sit close together in this sense. William Cowper's Pity for Poor Africans (1788) has a story so pat that the listener may think it was coined on purpose to answer them: a reply that fits too neatly starts to sound prepared. That doubt is what the "trite" meaning makes explicit; here the word still approves, praising the right words ready at the right moment.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
William Cowper wrote Pity for Poor Africans. brycchancarey.com
Pity for Poor Africans was first published in 1788. api.pageplace.de
The poem's speaker introduces a story whose aptness might make the listener suspect it was invented expressly to answer them. brycchancarey.com
10
on cueadverb
In a timely or fitting way, just when the moment is right.
Now might I do it pat
c. 1599, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”
Note
The adverb follows its verb: a reply comes pat, a chance arrives pat. In Shakespeare's Hamlet it carries the whole weight of opportunity in Now might I do it pat, where now and pat together say that this moment is the right one.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Shakespeare wrote Hamlet. shakespearedocumented.folger.edu
1599–1602 is an estimated composition range. Under the required first-publication convention, the date is 1603. folger.edu
Hamlet contains the words 'Now might I do it pat', spoken by Hamlet as he sees an opportunity to act. internetshakespeare.uvic.ca
11
noun
Clipping of pattern: in written knitting instructions, the stitch pattern already set up, as in "work in pat."
12
verb
To rain gently and softly.
13
adjectiveslang
Upper-class, or smart and fashionable in an upper-class way.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of pat apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English *patten, a form of platten or pletten (“to pat”) that lost its l, from Old English plættan (“to buffet, strike, slap”), from Proto-Germanic *plat- and Proto-Indo-European *blod-, *bled- (“to strike, beat”). It is related to Middle Dutch platten (“to strike, crush”), German platzen (“to burst”) and Swedish plätta (“to pat, tap”); patch and pate may have lost an l in the same way.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 6 facts

Pat derives from reconstructed Middle English *patten, an alteration of platten or pletten with loss of l. en.wiktionary.org
The Middle English forms derive from Old English plættan, meaning to buffet, strike or slap. en.wiktionary.org
The proposed ancestry includes Proto-Germanic *plat- and Proto-Indo-European *blod-, *bled-, meaning to strike or beat. en.wiktionary.org
Pat is related to Middle Dutch platten, meaning to strike or crush. en.wiktionary.org
Pat is related to German platzen, meaning to burst. en.wiktionary.org
Pat is related to Swedish plätta, meaning to pat or tap. en.wiktionary.org