bat around

verb

1. slang,  (tr, adverb) to discuss (an idea, proposition, etc) informally

2. Also: bat along. dialect,  (intr) to wander or move about

Idioms and Phrases

Hit something around, often with a baseball bat or other object, as in We batted the tennis ball around this morning . Originating in baseball, this term came to be applied to more violent action as well, as in Jerry left after being batted around by his father . [ Slang ; first half of 1900s]

Discuss or debate something, as in We batted the various plans around for at least an hour before we came to a decision . This usage transfers batting a ball to a back-and-forth exchange of ideas. [ Slang ; late 1800s]

Drift aimlessly, roam, as in After graduating, they batted around Europe for a year . [ Slang ; c. 1900]

Example Sentences

As you bat around innocuous topics like the weather, the latest football score or that TV show’s finale, you gauge how the person responds.

From Los Angeles Times

There’s something sort of dutiful about the show’s sociopolitical humor, such as it is, which exists more to give the characters something to bat around than to say anything substantial about How We Ought to Live Now.

From Los Angeles Times

Paul Katool, a spokesman for the Mississippi Department of Transportation, is part of a group of employees who bat around ideas every month for funny highway signs, riffing on movies, pop music and upcoming holidays.

From New York Times

Kirchoff didn’t allow Maine’s 14-player order to bat around a second time, retiring all except one, a hit allowed in the third inning.

From Seattle Times

On behalf of us old guys who still read the printed newspaper, is the person who decided to stop publishing box scores, standings and “traditional game stories” in The Times Sports page one of those people who go to a ballgame to do the wave and bat around a beach ball?

From Los Angeles Times