What does "bat" mean?
Any flying mammal of the order Chiroptera, usually small and nocturnal, insectivorous or frugivorous.
Bat
/bæt/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any flying mammal of the order Chiroptera, usually small and nocturnal, insectivorous or frugivorous.
- Grammar: bat is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: batting, aardvark, aardwolf, agate.
- Useful contrasts: avoid, ignore, miss.
- Usage evidence: A bat flying in the sky looks like a butterfly.
How to use "bat"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "bat" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "bat" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "bat" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "bat" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "bat" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "batting" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "bat", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 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."
- 2 A club, made of wood like a baseball bat or otherwise, used as a weapon
- 3 A packsaddle. obsolete
- 4 Dated form of baht (“Thai currency”). alt-of, dated
- 5 Clipping of batty (“buttocks or anus”). Caribbean, Multicultural-London-English, abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
Show 25 more definitions
- 6 A child's shoe without a welt. UK, dialectal, obsolete
"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 bats elsewhere."
- 7 Clipping of battery. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, slang
"All these things must sell... […] * Motorola Cell phone bat/case/no contract"
- 8 Initialism of best available technology: a principle applying to regulations on limiting pollutant discharges. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
- 9 (baseball) a turn trying to get a hit wordnet
- 10 An old woman. derogatory
""Isn't it lovely?" I smiled and thought: "Yes it is. It's also a Blackbird, you silly old bat!"
- 11 A club made of wood or aluminium used for striking the ball in sports such as baseball, softball and cricket.
- 12 A boot that is badly made or in poor condition. UK, obsolete, slang
- 13 Initialism of brown adipose tissue. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
- 14 nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate wordnet
- 15 A turn at hitting the ball with a bat in a game.
"You've been in for ages. Can I have a bat now?"
- 16 One or more of the Chinese technology companies Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. China, countable, uncountable
- 17 a club used for hitting a ball in various games wordnet
- 18 A player rated according to skill in batting.
"He's a good fielder and a valuable bat."
- 19 the club used in playing cricket wordnet
- 20 The piece of wood on which the spinner places the coins and then uses for throwing them.
- 21 a small racket with a long handle used for playing squash wordnet
- 22 Shale or bituminous shale.
"bituminous shale ; which miners , if I mistake not , call bat"
- 23 A sheet of cotton used for filling quilts or comfortables; batting.
- 24 A part of a brick with one whole end.
- 25 A stroke; a sharp blow.
- 26 A stroke of work. Scotland, UK, dialectal
- 27 Rate of motion; speed. informal
"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."
- 28 A spree; a jollification; a binge, jag. US, dated, slang
- 29 Manner; rate; condition; state of health. Scotland, UK, dialectal
- 30 A rough walking stick. Kent
"So ſlides he dovvne vppon his greyned bat; / And comely diſtant ſits he by her ſide, […]"
Verb
- 1 To hit with a bat or (figuratively) as if with a bat. transitive
"He batted the ball away with a satisfying thwack."
- 2 To flutter transitive
"to bat one’s eyelashes"
- 3 wink briefly wordnet
- 4 To take a turn at hitting a ball with a bat in sports like cricket, baseball and softball, as opposed to fielding. intransitive
- 5 To wink. UK, US, dialectal
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight wordnet
- 7 To strike or swipe as though with a bat. intransitive
"The cat batted at the toy."
- 8 To flit quickly from place to place. intransitive, usually
"I’ve spent all week batting around the country."
- 9 strike with, or as if with a baseball bat wordnet
- 10 To bate or flutter, as a hawk. UK, dialectal, obsolete
- 11 use a bat wordnet
- 12 have a turn at bat wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 Abbreviation of Bathurst. abbreviation, alt-of
Example
"A bat flying in the sky looks like a butterfly."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "bat"?
Common synonyms include: batting, aardvark, aardwolf, agate, alpaca, angora goat.
How do you use "bat" in a sentence?
A bat flying in the sky looks like a butterfly.
How do you pronounce "bat"?
Pronounced /bæt/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
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 battuo (“I beat, pound”).
Etymology 3
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.
Etymology 4
Possibly a variant of bate.
Etymology 5
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.