bats

American

[bats] / bæts /

adjective

Slang.

insane; crazy.

He's gone bats.

bats British

/ bæts /

adjective

informal crazy; very eccentric

"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

Etymology

Origin of bats

First recorded in 1915–20; see origin at bat ², -s ³

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"David would be in South America, then Australia, showing things people had never seen… underwater life, bats, reptiles - everything."

From BBC • May 9, 2026

Valdez had given up 10 runs, including back-to-back solo home runs in the previous two at bats, when Story took the plate in the top of the fourth inning on Tuesday at Comerica Park.

From Los Angeles Times • May 6, 2026

Morens and the co-conspirators hoped to restore funding for research into whether it originated from bats, prosecutors said.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026

The findings about the bat bridges were demoralizing for Altringham, who during his career appeared at several public inquiries into the impact of road-building projects on bats.

From Slate • Apr. 28, 2026

And, of course, bats have wings, which they flap.

From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023