pat on the back
pat on the back noun: praise, congratulations.
Noun
pat on the back (plural pats on the back)
- Praise, congratulations.
- Give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done.
Verb
pat on the back (third-person singular simple present pats on the back, present participle patting on the back, simple past and past participle patted on the back)
- To praise or congratulate.
- Don't pat yourself on the back so vigorously; you might hurt yourself.
- We don't pat ourselves on the back when we hit a target. Hitting that target just means we've done what we're here for.2026 July 8, Paul Clifton, “Brunel does the business”, in RAIL, number 1065, page 31
Synonyms of pat on the back
Forms of pat on the back
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | pats on the back |
| alternative form | pat-on-the-back |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | pats on the back |
| present participle | patting on the back |
| past participle | patted on the back |
| past | patted on the back |
Words formed from pat on the back
Questions about pat on the back
- What does pat on the back mean?
- Pat on the back means praise, congratulations.
- What part of speech is pat on the back?
- Pat on the back can be a noun or a verb.
- What is the plural of pat on the back?
- The plural of pat on the back is pats on the back.
Words near pat on the back in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: pat on the back (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-pat on the back.ogg.
Cite this entry: “pat on the back.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/pat_on_the_back. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.