bat around

British  

verb

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

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

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bat around Idioms  

1. 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]

2. 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]

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

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Example Sentences

Judge brought his hands in, whipped his bat around and somehow connected.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 8, 2025

Scrawled placards mark the conference table at the Kyiv Independent, where nearly a year into the defining story of their lifetimes, staffers bat around news developments large and small.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 2023

“There are a lot of people here you can gut check with and bat around ideas,” Psaki said in an interview on her last day in the White House.

From Seattle Times • May 16, 2022

He was clearly expecting someone with a name like Horatio Farnsworth III, a Harvard man who would bat around the finer points of the North Atlantic alliance over highballs on Air Force One.

From New York Times • Dec. 2, 2018

A few neighborhood friends and I used to bat around the birdie for fun after school.

From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins