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quatto

crouching

adjective KWAHT-toh Rare
Descriptions & Qualities Manner

Also means

huddled

Usage Note

Quatto describes someone crouching low or pressed flat, typically to hide — usually in the idiom quatto quatto (very quietly, stealthily): se ne andò quatto quatto (he slipped away without a sound). It is rarely used outside this doubled form. The feminine is quatta, plural quatti/quatte.

Examples

"Se ne andò quatto quatto senza salutare."

Natural Translation

He slipped away without saying goodbye.

Literal Translation

He-went-away crouching-crouching without greeting.

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