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Bat

//bæt// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Abbreviation of Bathurst. abbreviation, alt-of
Noun
  1. 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. 2
    A club, made of wood like a baseball bat or otherwise, used as a weapon
  3. 3
    A packsaddle. obsolete
  4. 4
    Dated form of baht (“Thai currency”). alt-of, dated
  5. 5
    Clipping of batty (“buttocks or anus”). Caribbean, Multicultural-London-English, abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
Show 25 more definitions
  1. 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."

  2. 7
    Clipping of battery. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, slang

    "All these things must sell... […] * Motorola Cell phone bat/case/no contract"

  3. 8
    Initialism of best available technology: a principle applying to regulations on limiting pollutant discharges. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
  4. 9
    (baseball) a turn trying to get a hit wordnet
  5. 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!"

  6. 11
    A club made of wood or aluminium used for striking the ball in sports such as baseball, softball and cricket.
  7. 12
    A boot that is badly made or in poor condition. UK, obsolete, slang
  8. 13
    Initialism of brown adipose tissue. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, initialism, uncountable
  9. 14
    nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate wordnet
  10. 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?"

  11. 16
    One or more of the Chinese technology companies Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent. China, countable, uncountable
  12. 17
    a club used for hitting a ball in various games wordnet
  13. 18
    A player rated according to skill in batting.

    "He's a good fielder and a valuable bat."

  14. 19
    the club used in playing cricket wordnet
  15. 20
    The piece of wood on which the spinner places the coins and then uses for throwing them.
  16. 21
    a small racket with a long handle used for playing squash wordnet
  17. 22
    Shale or bituminous shale.

    "bituminous shale ; which miners , if I mistake not , call bat"

  18. 23
    A sheet of cotton used for filling quilts or comfortables; batting.
  19. 24
    A part of a brick with one whole end.
  20. 25
    A stroke; a sharp blow.
  21. 26
    A stroke of work. Scotland, UK, dialectal
  22. 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."

  23. 28
    A spree; a jollification; a binge, jag. US, dated, slang
  24. 29
    Manner; rate; condition; state of health. Scotland, UK, dialectal
  25. 30
    A rough walking stick. Kent

    "So ſlides he dovvne vppon his greyned bat; / And comely diſtant ſits he by her ſide, […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    To hit with a bat or (figuratively) as if with a bat. transitive

    "He batted the ball away with a satisfying thwack."

  2. 2
    To flutter transitive

    "to bat one’s eyelashes"

  3. 3
    wink briefly wordnet
  4. 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. 5
    To wink. UK, US, dialectal
Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight wordnet
  2. 7
    To strike or swipe as though with a bat. intransitive

    "The cat batted at the toy."

  3. 8
    To flit quickly from place to place. intransitive, usually

    "I’ve spent all week batting around the country."

  4. 9
    strike with, or as if with a baseball bat wordnet
  5. 10
    To bate or flutter, as a hawk. UK, dialectal, obsolete
  6. 11
    use a bat wordnet
  7. 12
    have a turn at bat wordnet

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.

See also for "bat"

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