bat

A club, made of wood like a baseball bat or otherwise, used as a weapon

Noun

  1. A club, made of wood like a baseball bat or otherwise, used as a weapon
  2. A club made of wood or aluminium used for striking the ball in sports such as baseball, softball and cricket.
  3. A turn at hitting the ball with a bat in a game.
    • You've been in for ages. Can I have a bat now?
  4. A player rated according to skill in batting.
    • He's a good fielder and a valuable bat.
  5. The piece of wood on which the spinner places the coins and then uses for throwing them.

    Synonyms: kip kylie lannet stick

  6. Shale or bituminous shale.
    • bituminous shale ; which miners , if I mistake not , call bat - 1799, Richard Kirwan, Geological Essays:
  7. A sheet of cotton used for filling quilts or comfortables; batting.
  8. A part of a brick with one whole end.
  9. A stroke; a sharp blow.
  10. A stroke of work.
  11. Rate of motion; speed.
    • On starting, The Nun led at a very slow pace for a quarter of a mile, when the Shrigley colt made running at a good bat. - 1842, Sporting Magazine, page 251:
    • a vast host of fowl […] making at full bat for the North Sea. - 1898, unknown author, Pall Mall Magazine:
  12. A spree; a jollification; a binge, jag.

Origin

From Middle English bat, batte, from Old English batt (“bat, club, cudgel”), probably of Celtic origin, compare Old Breton bath (“club, cudgel”) and modern Breton bazh (“swagger stick”), ultimately from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰh₂- (“to strike, beat, pierce”), similar to the Gaulish source of Latin battuō (“to beat, pound”).

Forms

bats

Synonyms

kip stick kylie lannet

Derived

at bat baseball bat bat and ball batboy batgirl batlet batmaker batman bat of an eye bat-pad batsman bat speed batswoman beat the bat big bat bingle brickbat carry out one's bat carry the bat cluebat come to bat corked bat cricket bat cross bat

Noun Entry 2

  1. Any flying mammal of the order Chiroptera, usually small and nocturnal, insectivorous or frugivorous.
    • The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day. - 1920,...
    • As well as being worth millions of dollars to the Texan agriculture industry, these mammals are worth millions of dollars to the state’s tourism industry. Texas is home to the world’s largest known bat colony (in Comal...

    Synonyms: chiropter chiropteran flindermouse flitterbat flittermouse fluttermouse flying mouse rattlemouse reremouse

  2. An old woman.
    • "Isn't it lovely?" I smiled and thought: "Yes it is. It's also a Blackbird, you silly old bat! - 2000, Bill Oddie, Gripping Yarns, page 196:

Origin

Dialectal variant (akin to dialectal Swedish natt-batta) of Middle English bakke, balke, of North Germanic origin. Perhaps compare Old Norse (leðr)blaka (literally “(leather) flapper”), from leðr + blaka (“to flap”). Compare Old Swedish natbakka, Old Danish nathbakkæ.

Forms

bats

Derived

alien space bats anvil bat baby bat badger bat banana bat barbastelle bat bat bomb bat box bat bug Batcape batcorder batcrap bat detector batdom bat ear bat-eared fox batfaced bat falcon Batfamily batfish* bat flower batflower bat fly bat-fowler

Noun UK, dialectal

  1. A child's shoe without a welt.
    • The retailer who sells a little girl a pretty pair of shoes today instead of a pair of bats, is bound to sell that girl, when she grows up, a pair of stylish $3 or $4 shoes instead of her buying a pair of $1.98 bargain...
  2. A boot that is badly made or in poor condition.

Forms

bats

Noun alt of, dated

  1. Dated form of baht (“Thai currency”).

Noun obsolete

  1. A packsaddle.

Origin

Borrowed from French bât, from Old French bast, from Vulgar Latin *bastum, form of *bastāre (“to carry”), from Ancient Greek βαστάζω (bastázō, “to lift, carry”). Doublet of baton and baston.

Forms

bats

Derived

batman

Noun Caribbean, Multicultural London English

  1. Clipping of batty (“buttocks or anus”).

Forms

bats

Noun abbreviation, alt of

  1. Clipping of battery.
    • All these things must sell... […] * Motorola Cell phone bat/case/no contract - 1997 November 30, [email protected] [Sherry Edwards], “FS----Great Xmas Gifts”, in van.forsale (Usenet), archived from the original on 09...
    • [T]he razor was allways^([sic]) planed^([sic]) to be a thinner PalmIII with Li-Ion bat and a better LCD (i.e. less glare and more contrast)... […] You can replace it in the same way than^([sic]) the Cell Phone...
    • where is cheapest place to buy laptop batt? - 2000 June 30, Steve Perry, “cheapest place for laptop bat?”, in england.ads.computer (Usenet), archived from the original on 09 Sep 2025:

    Related: batt

Forms

bats

Related

bat chayil bat mitzvah bits and bats

Verb Entry 8

  1. To hit with a bat or (figuratively) as if with a bat.
    • He batted the ball away with a satisfying thwack.
    • We batted a few ideas around.
  2. To take a turn at hitting a ball with a bat in sports like cricket, baseball and softball, as opposed to fielding.
  3. To strike or swipe as though with a bat.
    • The cat batted at the toy.
  4. To bate or flutter, as a hawk.

Origin

From Middle English batten, baten (“to beat”), from Old French batre (“to beat”), from Late Latin battere, from Latin battuere, of uncertain origin; perhaps of Germanic or Celtic origin. In modern English reinterpreted as a verbal derivative of Etymology 2. Compare batter, battery.

Forms

bats batting batted

Derived

bat around bat a thousand bat away bat deep bat five hundred bat for both sides bat for the other side bat for the other team bat in bat one thousand bat out bat round batter bat the breeze bat up did not bat

Verb Entry 9

  1. To flutter
    • to bat one’s eyelashes
  2. To wink.
  3. To flit quickly from place to place.
    • I’ve spent all week batting around the country.
    • The "Star" is batting along at about a mile a minute, chattering away at the chimney and snatching small coal off the shovel. - 1956 February, W. A. Tuplin, “Hot Work on a "Star"”, in Railway Magazine, page 88:

Origin

Possibly a variant of bate.

Forms

bats batting batted

Derived

bat an eye bat an eyelash bat an eyelid bat one's eyelashes bat one's eyes