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In Miyazawa Kenji's 銀河鉄道の夜 I came across this:

たくさんの輪転器がばたりばたりとまわり、...

What is the meaning of ばたりばたり here? 輪転器 is a rotary printing press, I believe.

バタバタ comes to mind, so maybe something close to that?

leo
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"With a repetitive (and mechanical) flopping sound" would be my own definition.

At least, that should capture the essence of the onomatopoeia in the given context.