bat

¹

[ bat ]

noun

1. Sports.
   1. the wooden club used in certain games, as baseball and cricket, to strike the ball.
   2. a racket, especially one used in badminton or table tennis.
   3. a whip used by a jockey.
   4. the act of using a club or racket in a game.
   5. the right or turn to use a club or racket.
2. a heavy stick, club, or cudgel.
3. Informal. a blow, as with a bat.
4. any fragment of brick or hardened clay.
5. Masonry. a brick cut transversely so as to leave one end whole.
6. British Slang. speed; rate of motion or progress, especially the pace of the stroke or step of a race.
7. Slang. a spree; binge:

   to go on a bat.

8. Ceramics.
   1. a sheet of gelatin or glue used in bat printing.
   2. a slab of moist clay.
   3. a ledge or shelf in a kiln.
   4. a slab of plaster for holding a piece being modeled or for absorbing excess water from slip.
9. batt.

verb (used with object)

, bat·ted, bat·ting.

1. to strike or hit with or as if with a bat or club.

   Synonyms: clobber, clout, slug, sock, smack, swat, wallop, knock

2. Baseball. to have a batting average of; hit:

   He batted .325 in spring training.

verb (used without object)

, bat·ted, bat·ting.

1. Sports.
   1. to strike at the ball with the bat.
   2. to take one's turn as a batter.

verb phrase

1. 1. Slang. to roam; drift.
   2. Informal. to discuss or ponder; debate:

      We batted the idea around.

   3. Baseball. to have every player in the lineup take a turn at bat during a single inning.
2. Baseball. to cause (a run) to be scored by getting a hit:

   He batted in two runs with a double to left.

3. to do, write, produce, etc., hurriedly:

   I have to bat out a term paper before class.

bat

²

[ bat ]

noun

1. any of numerous flying mammals of the order Chiroptera, of worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate regions, having modified forelimbs that serve as wings and are covered with a membranous skin extending to the hind limbs.

bat

³

[ bat ]

verb (used with object)

, bat·ted, bat·ting.

1. to flutter; blink; wink.

bat.

⁴

abbreviation for

1. battalion.
2. battery.

bat

¹

/ bæt /

noun

1. any placental mammal of the order Chiroptera , being a nocturnal mouselike animal flying with a pair of membranous wings (patagia). The group is divided into the Megachiroptera ( fruit bats ) and Microchiroptera ( insectivorous bats ) chiropteran
2. slang.
   an irritating or eccentric woman (esp in the phrase old bat )
3. blind as a bat
   having extremely poor eyesight
4. have bats in the belfry or have bats in one's belfry informal.
   to be mad or eccentric; have strange ideas
5. like a bat out of hell slang.
   very quickly

bat

²

/ bæt /

noun

1. any of various types of club with a handle, used to hit the ball in certain sports, such as cricket, baseball, or table tennis
2. a flat round club with a short handle, resembling a table-tennis bat, used by a man on the ground to guide the pilot of an aircraft when taxiing
3. cricket short for batsman
4. any stout stick, esp a wooden one
5. informal.
   a blow from such a stick
6. a small board used for tossing the coins in the game of two-up
7. slang.
   a drinking spree; binge
8. slang.
   speed; rate; pace

   they went at a fair bat

9. another word for batting
10. carry one's bat
    cricket (of an opening batsman) to reach the end of an innings without being dismissed
11. off one's own bat
    1. of one's own accord; without being prompted by someone else
    2. by one's own unaided efforts
12. off the bat or right off the bat informal.
    immediately; without hesitation

verb

1. tr to strike with or as if with a bat
2. intr sport (of a player or a team) to take a turn at batting

bat

³

/ bæt /

verb

1. to wink or flutter (one's eyelids)
2. not bat an eye or not bat an eyelid informal.
   to show no surprise or concern

Derived Forms

• ˈbatlike, adjective

Other Words From

• batlike adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bat¹

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English noun bat, bot, batte, Old English batt, perhaps from Celtic; compare Irish, Scots Gaelic bat, bata “staff, cudgel”; Middle English verb batten, partly from the noun, partly from Old French batre; batter ¹

Origin of bat²

First recorded in 1570–75; apparently from Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish natt-batta, variant of Old Swedish natt-bakka “night-bat”; replacing Middle English bakke, bak (from Scandinavian), Middle English balke for unrecorded blake, from Scandinavian; compare dialectal Swedish natt-blacka, Old Icelandic ledhr-blaka “bat,” equivalent to ledhr “skin, leather” + blaka “flutter”

Origin of bat³

An Americanism dating back to 1835–40, extended sense of earlier “flutter like a hawk” first recorded in 1605–15; variant of bate ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of bat¹

C14 bakke , probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse ledhrblaka leather-flapper, Swedish dialect natt-batta night bat

Origin of bat²

Old English batt club, probably of Celtic origin; compare Gaelic bat , Russian bat

Origin of bat³

C17: probably a variant of bate ²

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. at bat, Baseball. at bat.
2. blind as a bat, nearly or completely blind; having very poor vision:

   Anyone can tell that he's blind as a bat, but he won't wear glasses.

3. go to bat for, Informal. to intercede for; vouch for; defend:

   to go to bat for a friend.

4. have bats in one's belfry, Informal. to have crazy ideas; be very peculiar, erratic, or foolish:

   If you think you can row across the ocean in that boat, you have bats in your belfry.

5. not bat an eye, to show no emotion or surprise; maintain a calm exterior:

   The murderer didn't bat an eye when the jury announced its verdict of guilty.

6. right off the bat, Informal. at once; without delay:

   They asked me to sing right off the bat.

7. bat the breeze. breeze ¹( def 11 ).

More idioms and phrases containing bat

• at bat
• blind as a bat
• bats in one's belfry
• go to bat for
• like a bat out of hell
• right off the bat

Example Sentences

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC previously said a bloodstained cricket bat, a rolling pin with Sara’s DNA on it, a metal pole, a belt and rope were found near the family’s outhouse.

From BBC

He writes in his 2003 autobiography that on the train, two men threatened him, but former Indian captain CK Nayudu intervened, bat in hand, and warned them off.

From BBC

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones KC previously said a bloodstained cricket bat, a rolling pin with Sara’s DNA on it, a metal pole, a belt and rope were found near the family’s outhouse.

From BBC

“Tyler Price!” also portrays how a child’s diagnosis can affect everyone in a family unit: the parents argue about their daughter’s request for a bat mitzvah amid their struggles to pay her medical bills, and her brother craves the same parental attention his sister always seems to receive.

From Los Angeles Times

Philosopher Thomas Nagel, in a famous 1974 essay on subjectivity, “What Is It Like to Be a Bat?” puts it like this when he imagines how one might try to explain sight to someone blind from birth:

From Salon

Related Words

• sock