pat

The sound of a light slap or tap with a soft flat object, especially of a footstep.

We heard a pat on the door.

A light tap or slap, especially with the hands.

Give Mary a pat on the shoulder to get her attention.

A flattish lump of soft matter, especially butter or dung.

It looked like a tessellated work of pats of butter.

To (gently) tap the flat of one's hand on a person or thing.

To show affection, he decided he would pat the boy on the head.

He came round to each of us to pat and speak to us for the last time; his voice sounded very sad.

To hit lightly and repeatedly with the flat of the hand to make smooth or flat

I patted the cookie dough into shape.

Before they went to see Glinda, however, they were taken to a room of the Castle, where Dorothy washed her face and combed her hair, and the Lion shook the dust out of his mane, and the Scarecrow patted himself into his best shape, and the Woodman polished his tin and oiled his joints.

To stroke or fondle (an animal). Compare pet.

Do you want to pat the cat?

To gently rain.

Exactly suitable, fitting, apt; timely, convenient, opportune, ready for the occasion; especially of things spoken.

a pat expression

Your scruples and arguments bring to my mind a story so pat, you may think it is coin’d, on purpose to answer you, out of my mint; but, I can assure you, I saw it in print.

Trite, being superficially complete, lacking originality.

While most AIDS activists and researchers I spoke with agreed I shouldn't offer pat safe/unsafe categories, let me share some pretty widely accepted information.

The pat answer is that college students should consider graduate school as a way to delay a job search until things turn around, and that more high school students should go to college to improve their prospects.