petter

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛtə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɛtə(ɹ)/, /-ɾə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɛtə, -ɛtə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: pet‧ter

From pet +‎ -er.

petter (plural petters)

1. (rare) One who pets.
   • 1953, Ernest Watson Burgess, Paul Wallin, Engagement and marriage:

     […] 36) are good sports 37) have a good sense of humor 38) are not sissies 39) do not try to neck on the first date 40) are not routine petters […]

   • 2007, George Philip, Cowboy life: the letters of George Philip:

     I was always a petter of my horses, teaching them to do some minor tricks.

Onomatopoeic; compare patter.

petter (third-person singular simple present petters, present participle pettering, simple past and past participle pettered)

1. (rare) To make an irregular, repetitive sound.
   • 1840, Horace Smith, editor, Memoirs, Letters, and Comic Miscellanies in Prose and Verse of the late James Smith, Esq.‎^[1], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, page 231:

     "What an infernal shower!" ejaculated the baronet, as the rain pettered against his plate glass.

   • 1916, Charles M. Doughty, The Titans‎^[2], London: Duckworth & Co., page 106:

     Yet semblable Her mild voice Is, to that blissful sound, in Summer drought ; Of pettering rain, on léaves of parched Earths dust.