1
as in chatter
friendly, informal conversation or an instance of this
their patter could be heard down the hall
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in terminology
the special terms or expressions of a particular group or field
the patter of highbrow criticism that one hears in fashionable art galleries
Synonyms & Similar Words
as in to chat
to engage in casual or rambling conversation
the toddler pattered on for what seemed like hours
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of patter
George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Nov. 2025
The rubber outsole features a herringbone patter that offer grip and durability for all exercises in the gym and on the competition floor.
—Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 25 Sep. 2025
Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 12 Apr. 2025
Details like water overflowing from the bathtub, rain pattering on a window, a phone ringing and a piano playing contributed to the realism of the experience.
—Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for patter
Noun
Plant was serious about his music, but playful in some of his stage patter.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Nov. 2025
The rubber outsole features a herringbone patter that offer grip and durability for all exercises in the gym and on the competition floor.
—Vicki M. Young, Footwear News, 25 Sep. 2025
Verb
For a moment, the only sound was the rain pattering as night neared.
—Eduardo Cuevas, USA Today, 12 Apr. 2025
Details like water overflowing from the bathtub, rain pattering on a window, a phone ringing and a piano playing contributed to the realism of the experience.
—Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 7 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for patter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patter
Noun
-
Out in the hallway, the raucous chatter of teenagers echoed in the halls, and cars honked on the busy street outside to pick them up.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Feb. 2026
-
The container shipping company has been the subject of recent chatter regarding a possible sale.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
This bipartisan push is more than a simple change of terminology.—
Adam Abutaa,
Sun Sentinel,
8 Feb. 2026
-
Can explain the background of that terminology?—
Kate Aurthur,
Variety,
8 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
So far, he’s been spotted draped in a full-length, white fluffy coat and fire engine-red hat and gloves, watching the women’s downhill race, and casually chatting with onlookers at the curling mixed doubles, adorned in a zip-jacket emblazoned with Team USA players’ faces.—
Sheena McKenzie,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Our winter season continues with Adina Hoffman (recipient of a 2013 Windham-Campbell Prize for Nonfiction) chatting with Michael Kelleher about Georges Perec’s magical and mercurial and maddening An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris, translated by Marc Lowenthal.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Some of those talks have sidelined antitrust chief Gail Slater, who inherited the Live Nation case from the Biden administration but has pursued it toward a trial set for March.—
Rohan Goswami,
semafor.com,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Pezeshkian, who ordered Araghchi to pursue talks with the Americans after likely getting Khamenei’s blessing, also wrote on X on Sunday about the talks.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Steven Gebelin, who represented Puig in 2021 and 2022, testified at trial that his then-client tried to be helpful during the interview but, because the interpreter’s Spanish dialect differed from Puig’s, his answers were translated poorly.—
Steve Henson,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
-
Puig’s former attorney Steven Gebelin testified that during the January 2022 interview, Puig tried to be helpful in answering the investigators’ questions and the interpreter struggled with Puig’s Spanish dialect, according to the New York Times.—
Jaimie Ding,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Reading a book — yes, a real book with pages, gotten from a library or a store, not a Kindle; conversing, face-to-face, with a friend; taking a walk in a park or in the country?—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
6 Feb. 2026
-
No wonder people have lost the ability to converse!—
Judith Martin,
Mercury News,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Nate’s style, vocabulary and delivery are like no one else who has ever lived.—
Mac Engel
February 13,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Francesca’s pinnacle Once a Regency world has implied there’s mass print culture capable of speedy and pervasive distribution of colored images, something as persnickety as vocabulary is probably beside the point.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
11 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Her victory, however, is likely to further rattle China, Japan’s neighbor and biggest trade partner.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Anthropic, one of the more outspoken companies in the artificial intelligence space, rattled stocks with the seeming superpowers of its Claude chatbot, prompting a selloff across the software sector with potential obsolescence suddenly knocking at its door.—
Nick Lichtenberg,
Fortune,
9 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Patter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patter. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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