Example with a context:
Here's a possibility. Desires, at the very least, seem to be, at least in typical cases, very closely tied to a series of emotions. You get excited when you're playing chess at the prospect of capturing my queen and crushing me. You get worried when your pieces are threatened. Of course, more generally, you get excited, your heart goes pitter-pat, when your girlfriend or boyfriend says they love you. Your stomach sinks, you have that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, when you get a bad grade on a test.
What does this word mean? Sorry but I couldn't find any definitions online, so I'm asking here.
Best Answer
It's an expression for a speeded-up heartbeat. pitter-Pat-pitter-Pat-pitter-Pat. Syncopated, but faster than a regular-speed heartbeart, which is sometimes sounded out as: lub-Dub,lub-Dub,lub-Dub. It's English's attempt to simulate what one might hear through a stethoscope. Your heart has a strong stroke and a weaker stroke. (This creates the "systolic" and "diastolic" pressure in a blood pressure reading. Of course, if you get to listen to audio of a sonogram of your heartbeat, it sounds more like ka-Whoosh-ka-Whoosh-ka-Whoosh, but I don't think that has become an idiom. "pitter-pat" is the traditional way to say it in songs and other romantic situations. As others mentioned, "pitter-patter" is used quite differently.