bat

[ bat ]

/ bæt /

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noun

Sports.

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.

British Slang. 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.

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.

OTHER WORDS FOR bat

10 knock, wallop, swat, smack, sock, slug; clout, clobber.

See synonyms for bat on Thesaurus.com

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Idioms about bat

at bat, Baseball. See entry at at bat.

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

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

Words nearby bat

Bastogne, Bastrop, Basuto, Basutoland, BASW, bat, Bataan, Bataisk, Batak, bat an eye, Batangas

Other definitions 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

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

Other definitions for bat (3 of 4)

bat³

[ bat ]

/ bæt /

verb (used with object), bat·ted, bat·ting.

to flutter; blink; wink.

Origin of bat

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

Other definitions for bat (4 of 4)

bat.

abbreviation

battalion.

battery.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bat in a sentence

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
But she was very abusive to the girls, with punishments ranging from being called ugly to getting beaten with a baseball bat.
Azealia Banks Opens Up About Her Journey from Stripping to Rap Stardom|Marlow Stern|November 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As a result, many bat species are finding their homes and food sources gone.
Bats’ Link to Ebola Finally Solved|Carrie Arnold|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After a few seconds of listening Bat nodded vigorously, and closed the door.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
When the first sunbeam gleamed through the window of Bat's tiny kitchen, I arose, pulled on my boots and went to feed my horse.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
A little later Bat spread a bed for me on the kitchen floor, and I turned in.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
He's very tall an' gran', an' w'ars fine close, an' han's is white as a cotton bat, but his eyes doan set right in his head.
The Cromptons|Mary J. Holmes
Black Hood sprang out from the pole, swooped down upon the messenger like a huge black bat.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various

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

informal a blow from such a stick

Australian a small board used for tossing the coins in the game of two-up

US and Canadian slang a drinking spree; binge

slang speed; rate; pacethey went at a fair bat

another word for batting (def. 1)

carry one's bat cricket (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 bat or right off the bat US and Canadian informal immediately; without hesitation

verb bats, batting or batted

(tr) to strike with or as if with a bat

(intr) sport (of a player or a team) to take a turn at batting

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

slang an irritating or eccentric woman (esp in the phrase old bat)

blind as a bat having extremely poor eyesight

have bats in the belfry or have bats in one's belfry informal to be mad or eccentric; have strange ideas

like a bat out of hell slang very 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) /

verb bats, batting or batted (tr)

to wink or flutter (one's eyelids)

not bat an eye or not bat an eyelid informal to show no surprise or concern

Word Origin for bat

C17: probably a variant of bate ²

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with bat

bat

In addition to the idioms beginning with bat

bat an eye
bat around
bat one thousand
bats in one's belfry, have
bat the breeze

also see:

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.

bat

OTHER WORDS FOR bat

Idioms about bat

Origin of bat

Words nearby bat

Other definitions for bat (2 of 4)

Origin of bat

OTHER WORDS FROM bat

Other definitions for bat (3 of 4)

Origin of bat

Other definitions for bat (4 of 4)

Words related to bat

How to use bat in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for bat (1 of 3)

Word Origin for bat

British Dictionary definitions for bat (2 of 3)

Derived forms of bat

Word Origin for bat

British Dictionary definitions for bat (3 of 3)

Word Origin for bat

Other Idioms and Phrases with bat