I. bat ‧ ter 1 /ˈbætə $ -ər/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive always + adverb/preposition, transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: batre or English bat 'to hit' ]
to hit someone or something many times, in a way that hurts or damages them:
He was battered to death.
As a child, she was battered by her father.
batter at/on/against etc
People were battering at the door.
batter somebody with something
He was battered on the head with a cricket bat.
batter away
She battered away at his chest with her fists.
batter something down
Armed police battered his door down.
II. batter 2 BrE AmE noun
[ Sense 1: Date: 1400-1500 ; Origin: Probably from ⇨ ↑ batter 1 ]
[ Sense 2: Date: 1800-1900 ; Origin: ⇨ ↑ bat 2 ]
1 . [uncountable and countable] a mixture of flour, eggs, milk etc, used in cooking and for making bread, cakes etc:
Fry the fish in batter.
pancake batter
2 . [countable] the person who is trying to hit the ball in ↑ baseball