rat-a-tat-tat

plural rat-a-tat-tats

1. A series of short, sharp taps, especially made by knocking on a door, beating a drum, or firing an automatic weapon.

   A man, the source of the lamentation, appears and as he walks across the stage, his cries transmute into song, and the slow snare drum rat-a-tat-tat of Ravel’s composition begins.

   2023 April 14, Rosyln Sulcas, “Review: Grief and Mourning, Delivered With Ecstatic Vitality”, in The New York Times

1. A series of short, sharp taps, especially made by knocking on a door, beating a drum, or firing an automatic weapon.