tat too (1), taptoo, taptow

[Dut. taptoe =tattoo, from tap =a tap, and toe put to, shut, closed; hence, the meaning is, "The tap is closed;" the tattoo was thus the signal for closing the taps of the public-houses ( Skeat ); cf. Ger. zapfenstreich tattoo, lit. tap stroke; Low Ger.tappenslag, lit.= a tap-shutting.] The beat of the drum at night, to call soldiers to their quarters or tents. "All those whose hearts are loose and low, Start if they but hear the tattoo ." Prior: Alma, i. 454. The devil's tattoo : That beating or drumming with the fingers upon a table, ., often practiced by people when vacant or impatient. "Mr. Gawtrey remained by the fire beating the devil's tattoo upon the chimney-piece, and ever and anon turned his glance toward Lilburne, who seemed to have forgotten his existence." -Lord Lytton: Night and Morning. tăt-toô', *tat-tow, v . t . [Tahitian tatau tattoo marks, from ta =a mark, a design.] To prick the skin and stain the punctured spots with some coloring substance, forming lines or designs on the body [TATTOOING.] "Perhaps, however, the most beautiful of all was that of the New Zealand ers, who were generally tattooed in curved or spiral lines." -Lubbock : Origin of Civilization (ed. 1882), p. 86.