Word.ws English Dictionary

patterroller

UK/patəˈɹəʊlə/US/pætəˈɹoʊlɚ/

patterroller noun: a member of a slave patrol.

Noun

patterroller (plural patterrollers)

  1. (historical, African-American Vernacular) A member of a slave patrol.
    • […]I'll break yo neck, I'll crack yo head / I'll wallop you twel I make you think / I'm de patter-roller, you wall-eyed slink!".1881, Joel Chandler Harris, The Tar-baby: And Other Rhymes of Uncle Remus, New York: D. Appleton
    • One old fellow name John been a run-awayer for four years and de patterrollers tries all dey tricks, but dey can't cotch him. Dey wants him bad, 'cause it 'spire other slaves to run away if he stays a-loose.1941, Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves, volume 16, Washington, DC: Library of Congress, →OCLC, page 248

Forms of patterroller

pluralpatterrollers

Origin of patterroller

Modification of patroller.

Questions about patterroller

What does patterroller mean?
Patterroller means a member of a slave patrol.
What part of speech is patterroller?
Patterroller is a noun.
How do you pronounce patterroller?
Patterroller is pronounced /patəˈɹəʊlə/ (UK).
What is the plural of patterroller?
The plural of patterroller is patterrollers.

Words near patterroller in the dictionary

  1. patternmaking
  2. patterns
  3. patterns up
  4. patternwise
  5. patterny
  6. patterroller
  7. patterrollers
  8. patters
  9. patters flash
  10. pattersome
  11. Patterson

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: patterroller (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.

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