I. ˈbat, usu -d.+V noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English batt, probably of Celtic origin; akin to Gaulish anda bata gladiator that fought while wearing a helmet without eye openings and to the source of Latin battuere to beat; akin to Latin fatuus silly, Russian bat cudgel
1. : a stout solid stick : club , cudgel
2. : a sharp blow : stroke
getting only one halfhearted bat on his ear and a small scratch on his cheek — A.B.Mayse
3.
a. : a wooden implement used for hitting the ball in various games (as baseball or cricket)
b. : a racket used in various games (as squash or badminton)
c. : the short whip used by a jockey
4.
a. : batsman
a handy bat and a good fast bowler
b. : the act of batting especially in baseball : a turn at batting — usually used in the phrase at bat
the second baseman was at bat
5.
a. : a part of a brick with one end whole and the other broken off
b. : a sun-dried brick
c.
(1) : a flat round slab of clay or plaster especially as representing the first stage in plate or saucer making
(2) : a flat slab of fired clay serving as a kiln shelf
(3) : the flat plaster disk supporting clay on the potter's wheel
6.
a. or batt “ : batting 2 — usually used in plural
b. or batt : a continuous sheet of cotton or wool fiber prepared for carding or for layering in felt making
c. also batt : a layer of felt as used in making hats
7. Britain : rate of speed : clip , gait
it can travel at a fair bat — Alan Marshall
8. : a drinking bout : spree , binge
went off on a monumental bat — Robert Wilder
9. : a corrugation across the face of a masonry stone having a tooled finish
•
- go to bat for
- off one's own bat
- off the bat
II. verb
( batted ; batted ; batting ; bats )
Etymology: Middle English batten, from bat, n.
transitive verb
1. : to strike or hit with or as if with a bat : beat , cudgel
bat each of the studio audience over the head — Richard Maney
easily batted down the opposition's arguments
2. in baseball
a. : to advance (a base runner) by batting : drive — see bat in
b. : to have a batting average of : hit
some players are never able to bat .300
c. : to send to bat
d. : to lead to victory by batting
batted his team to a 2-1 win last night
3. : to compose especially in a casual, careless, or hurried manner — usually used with out
batted out on the typewriter the first draft of the document — Charles Michelson
4. : to discuss at length : consider in detail — usually used with around or back and forth
the plan was batted around for weeks
we batted the subject back and forth — C.E.LeMay
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to strike or hit a ball with a bat : hit
he bats unusually well for a pitcher
b. : to take one's turn at bat (as of a player or a team)
the shortstop was batting when the rain began
2. : to travel from one place to another especially in an aimless fashion : wander
almost convinced myself that I was ready to bat around the mountains with the snake nooses and cameras and guns — Saul Bellow
3. : to strike repeatedly : beat
the moths batted and trembled on the screens — Hamilton Basso
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: alteration of Middle English bakke, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Swedish natt bakka bat
1. : any one of the numerous flying mammals that constitute the order Chiroptera, the only mammals capable of true flight, having the forelimbs modified to form wings, the metacarpals and finger bones except those of the thumb being greatly elongated and supporting like the ribs of an umbrella a cutaneous membrane that also extends a little in front of the arm and embraces the hind limbs except the feet and sometimes the whole length of the tail; having a thumb and toes with claws by which the animal suspends itself often head downward when at rest; being nocturnal in habit and among the most perfectly aerial of all animals, locomotion other than by flight being comparatively difficult for it; occurring most abundantly and attaining the largest size in warm countries; and being mostly insectivorous though some are frugivorous (as the flying fox) and a few suck the blood of other mammals — see vampire
2. in the West Indies : any of certain large moths and butterflies
3. : iron gray
4. slang
a. : prostitute
b. : an unattractive usually unpleasant woman — often used as a generalized expression of abuse
we ain't got around to telling the old bat we're married yet — Maxwell Griffith
•
- have bats in the belfry
IV. adjective
Etymology: Middle English batt, from Middle French bat, bast, n., packsaddle, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin bastum, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin bastare to carry — more at baston
: for carrying a packsaddle or baggage
bat mules
a bat and forage allowance
V. transitive verb
( batted ; batted ; batting ; bats )
Etymology: probably alteration of bate (II)
1.
a. : wink
batting her eyelids
the son-in-law had begun to bat his eyes rapidly — William Faulkner
b. : flutter
she batted mascaraed eyelashes foolishly — Lael Tucker
2. : to show surprise or emotion by or as if by blinking (the eyes) : blink (the eyes) in or as if in surprise
no one would have batted an eye had Bruce admitted to ten years more — Jane Woodfin
VI. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Hindi bāt speech, language, news, from Sanskrit vārttā news, from vartate it turns, happen — more at worth (to become)
: the colloquial language of a foreign country : lingo — used especially in the phrase sling the bat
VII.
variant of baht