the wooden club used in certain games, as baseball and cricket, to strike the ball.
a racket, especially one used in badminton or table tennis.
a whip used by a jockey.
the act of using a club or racket in a game.
the right or turn to use a club or racket.
a heavy stick, club, or cudgel.
Informal. a blow, as with a bat.
any fragment of brick or hardened clay.
Masonry. a brick cut transversely so as to leave one end whole.
BritishSlang. speed; rate of motion or progress, especially the pace of the stroke or step of a race.
Slang. a spree; binge: to go on a bat.
Ceramics.
a sheet of gelatin or glue used in bat printing.
a slab of moist clay.
a ledge or shelf in a kiln.
a slab of plaster for holding a piece being modeled or for absorbing excess water from slip.
batt.
verb (used with object),bat·ted,bat·ting.
to strike or hit with or as if with a bat or club.
Baseball. to have a batting average of; hit: He batted .325 in spring training.
verb (used without object),bat·ted,bat·ting.
Sports.
to strike at the ball with the bat.
to take one's turn as a batter.
Slang. to rush.
Verb Phrases
bat around,
Slang.to roam; drift.
Informal.to discuss or ponder; debate: We batted the idea around.
Baseball.to have every player in the lineup take a turn at bat during a single inning.
bat in,Baseball. to cause (a run) to be scored by getting a hit: He batted in two runs with a double to left.
bat out,to do, write, produce, etc., hurriedly: I have to bat out a term paper before class.
Idioms for bat
at bat, Baseball.
taking one's turn to bat in a game: at bat with two men in scoring position.
an instance at bat officially charged to a batter except when the batter is hit by a pitch, receives a base on balls, is interfered with by the catcher, or makes a sacrifice hit or sacrifice fly: two hits in three at bats.
bat the breeze. breeze1 (def. 11).
go to bat for, Informal. to intercede for; vouch for; defend: to go to bat for a friend.
right off the bat, Informal. at once; without delay: They asked me to sing right off the bat.
Origin of bat
1
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; see batter1
Bastogne, Bastrop, Basuto, Basutoland, BASW, bat, Bataan, Bataisk, Batak, bat an eye, Batangas
Definition for bat (2 of 4)
bat2
[ bat ]
/ bæt /
noun
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.
Origin of bat
2
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”
OTHER WORDS FROM bat
batlike,adjective
Definition for bat (3 of 4)
bat3
[ bat ]
/ bæt /
verb (used with object),bat·ted,bat·ting.
to flutter; blink; wink.
Origin of bat
3
An Americanism dating back to 1835–40, extended sense of earlier “flutter like a hawk” first recorded in 1605–15; variant of see origin at bate2
We can’t hear things that dogs can hear, we can’t see things that bats can see.
Talking Is Throwing Fictional Worlds at One Another - Issue 89: The Dark Side|Kevin Berger|September 9, 2020|Nautilus
When Lou Brock, who died Sunday at age 81, came up to bat, I booed him because, well, he was on the other team.
The complaints of the entitled workers of Silicon Valley|Adam Lashinsky|September 8, 2020|Fortune
He and his team located three bat colonies, each with 200 or more bats, and smeared the backs of 20 to 60 animals in each colony with a gel containing a biomarker that made their hair fluoresce if they ingested it.
Can Vaccines for Wildlife Prevent Human Pandemics?|Rodrigo Pérez Ortega|August 24, 2020|Quanta Magazine
Upon the animal’s return to its colony, other bats would groom it and get exposed to the vaccine too.
Can Vaccines for Wildlife Prevent Human Pandemics?|Rodrigo Pérez Ortega|August 24, 2020|Quanta Magazine
That’s because these digital titles have the existing audiences from their other verticals that the new vertical can appeal to off the bat.
‘Not a simple adjacency strategy’: How Group Nine is selling advertisers on bigger and longer editorial deals|Kayleigh Barber|August 21, 2020|Digiday
Instead, he gives his very best effort and tries to win the World Series with a single swing of his bat.
After Torture Report, Our Moral Authority As a Nation Is Gone|Nick Gillespie|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Right off the bat, papyrologist Brice C. Jones noted that something was awry.
Dismembering History: The Shady Online Trade in Ancient Texts|Candida Moss|November 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
It can be really good if somebody is an amazing talent right off the bat or it can highlight your flaws.
Inside ‘The Sex Factor’: Where 16 Men and Women Vie For Porn Immortality|Aurora Snow|November 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This allows the bats to spread the viruses to other bat populations in distant areas.
Bats’ Link to Ebola Finally Solved|Carrie Arnold|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Right off the bat, the “Doing Our Bit for the Cure” campaign seemed peculiar.
The Misogynistic Companies Jumping On The Breast Cancer Bandwagon|Emily Shire|October 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Once, a bat flew half in at one of the windows, striking its wings upon the glass, but almost immediately it flew out again.
The Haunting of Low Fennel|Sax Rohmer
The day passed, the night came, and morning found the Bat still sitting there.
The Way of an Indian|Frederic Remington
A grim set of the jaws, as Bat made the announcement, was his only expression of feeling.
The Man in the Twilight|Ridgwell Cullum
And the way he can touch a bat with his mitt and deflect it on the third strike without being detected by the umpire is wonderful.
Rival Pitchers of Oakdale|Morgan Scott
As a matter of fact a bat is one of our best friends because he will spend the whole night catching mosquitoes.
Outdoor Sports and Games|Claude H. Miller
British Dictionary definitions for bat (1 of 3)
bat1
/ (bæt) /
noun
any of various types of club with a handle, used to hit the ball in certain sports, such as cricket, baseball, or table tennis
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
cricket short for batsman
any stout stick, esp a wooden one
informala blow from such a stick
Australiana small board used for tossing the coins in the game of two-up
US and Canadianslanga drinking spree; binge
slangspeed; rate; pacethey went at a fair bat
another word for batting (def. 1)
carry one's batcricket(of an opening batsman) to reach the end of an innings without being dismissed
off one's own bat
of one's own accord; without being prompted by someone else
by one's own unaided efforts
off the batorright off the batUS and Canadianinformalimmediately; without hesitation
verbbats, battingorbatted
(tr)to strike with or as if with a bat
(intr)sport(of a player or a team) to take a turn at batting
See also bat around
Word Origin for bat
Old English batt club, probably of Celtic origin; compare Gaelic bat, Russian bat
British Dictionary definitions for bat (2 of 3)
bat2
/ (bæt) /
noun
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)Related adjective: chiropteran
slangan irritating or eccentric woman (esp in the phrase old bat)
blind as a bathaving extremely poor eyesight
have bats in the belfryorhave bats in one's belfryinformalto be mad or eccentric; have strange ideas
like a bat out of hellslangvery quickly
Derived forms of bat
batlike, adjective
Word Origin for bat
C14 bakke, probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse ledhrblaka leather-flapper, Swedish dialect natt-batta night bat
British Dictionary definitions for bat (3 of 3)
bat3
/ (bæt) /
verbbats, battingorbatted(tr)
to wink or flutter (one's eyelids)
not bat an eyeornot bat an eyelidinformalto show no surprise or concern