QUIZZES
LEARN THE SPANISH WORDS FOR THESE COMMON ANIMALS!
Are you learning Spanish? Or do you just have an interest in foreign languages? Either way, this quiz on Spanish words for animals is for you.
Question 1 of 13
How do you say “cat” 🐈 in Spanish?
Idioms for bat
Origin of bat
1First 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
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
2First 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, adjectiveDefinition for bat (3 of 4)
Origin of bat
3An 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
Definition for bat (4 of 4)
bat.
battalion.
battery.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021
British Dictionary definitions for bat (1 of 3)
bat1
/ (bæt) /
noun
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
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
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, adjectiveWord 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
Idioms and Phrases with bat
bat
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.