Synonyms

like a bat out of hell

Idioms

Moving extremely fast, as in She ran down the street like a bat out of hell. This expression presumably alludes to the rapid darting movement of bats and, Charles Earle Funk theorized, their avoidance of such light as might be cast by the fires of hell. [c. 1900] For a synonym, see like greased lightning.

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.

They undoubtedly gave him even greater publicity and notoriety, helping his solo career to skyrocket like a bat out of hell.

From BBC

My wife shot out of the corner like a bat out of hell and leapt from her truck.

From Salon

And then when we put him on the lead — sometimes it’s a struggle to get them to move — he took to it like a bat out of hell.”

From Seattle Times

“I drove like a bat out of hell,” he said.

From Seattle Times

“He ran like a bat out of hell,” The Boston Globe reported at the time.

From Seattle Times

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