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Bat

 - 19 dictionary results
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bat

1  [bat] noun, verb, bat⋅ted, bat⋅ting.
Use Bat in a Sentence
–noun
1. Sports.
a. the wooden club used in certain games, as baseball and cricket, to strike the ball.
b. a racket, esp. one used in badminton or table tennis.
c. a whip used by a jockey.
d. the act of using a club or racket in a game.
e. the right or turn to use a club or racket.
2. a heavy stick, club, or cudgel.
3. Informal. a blow, as with a bat.
4. any fragment of brick or hardened clay.
5. Masonry. a brick cut transversely so as to leave one end whole.
6. British Slang. speed; rate of motion or progress, esp. the pace of the stroke or step of a race.
7. Slang. a spree; binge: to go on a bat.
8. Ceramics.
a. a sheet of gelatin or glue used in bat printing.
b. a slab of moist clay.
c. a ledge or shelf in a kiln.
d. a slab of plaster for holding a piece being modeled or for absorbing excess water from slip.
9. batt.
–verb (used with object)
10. to strike or hit with or as if with a bat or club.
11. Baseball. to have a batting average of; hit: He batted .325 in spring training.
–verb (used without object)
12. Sports.
a. to strike at the ball with the bat.
b. to take one's turn as a batter.
13. Slang. to rush.
—Verb phrases
14. bat around,
a. Slang. to roam; drift.
b. Informal. to discuss or ponder; debate: We batted the idea around.
c. Baseball. to have every player in the lineup take a turn at bat during a single inning.
15. bat in, Baseball. to cause (a run) to be scored by getting a hit: He batted in two runs with a double to left.
16. bat out, to do, write, produce, etc., hurriedly: I have to bat out a term paper before class.
—Idioms
17. at bat, Baseball.
a. taking one's turn to bat in a game: at bat with two men in scoring position.
b. an instance at bat officially charged to a batter except when the batter is hit by a pitch, receives a base on balls, is interfered with by the catcher, or makes a sacrifice hit or sacrifice fly: two hits in three at bats.
18. bat the breeze. breeze 1 (def. 11).
19. go to bat for, Informal. to intercede for; vouch for; defend: to go to bat for a friend.
20. right off the bat, Informal. at once; without delay: They asked me to sing right off the bat.
Origin:
1175–1225; (n.) ME bat, bot, batte, OE batt, perh. < Celt; cf. Ir, ScotGael bat, bata staff, cudgel; (v.) ME batten, partly from the n., partly < OF batre; see batter 1

Synonyms:
10. knock, wallop, swat, smack, sock, slug; clout, clobber.
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bat

2  [bat]
–noun
1. any of numerous flying mammals of the order Chiroptera, of worldwide distribution in tropical and temperate regions, having modified forelimbs that serve as wings and are covered with a membranous skin extending to the hind limbs.
—Idioms
2. blind as a bat, nearly or completely blind; having very poor vision: Anyone can tell that he's blind as a bat, but he won't wear glasses.
3. have bats in one's belfry, Informal. to have crazy ideas; be very peculiar, erratic, or foolish: If you think you can row across the ocean in that boat, you have bats in your belfry.
Origin:
1570–75; appar. < Scand; cf. dial. Sw natt-batta, var. of OSw natt-bakka night-bat; r. ME bakke (< Scand), ME balke for *blake < Scand; cf. dial. Sw natt-blacka

Related forms:
batlike, adjective

bat

3  [bat]
–verb (used with object), bat⋅ted, bat⋅ting.
1. to blink; wink; flutter.
—Idiom
2. not bat an eye, to show no emotion or surprise; maintain a calm exterior: The murderer didn't bat an eye when the jury announced its verdict of guilty.
Origin:
1605–15; var. of bate 2

bat.

 
1. battalion.
2. battery.

batt

  [bat]
–noun
a sheet of matted cotton, wool, or synthetic fibers.
Also, bat.

Origin:
1830–40; special use of bat 1

Mas⋅ter⋅son

  [mas-ter-suhn, mah-ster-]
–noun
William Barclay (“Bat”), 1853–1921, U.S. frontier law officer.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Bat
bat 1   (bāt)   
n.  

  1. A stout wooden stick; a cudgel.

  2. A blow, such as one delivered with a stick.

  3. Baseball A rounded, often wooden club, wider and heavier at the hitting end and tapering at the handle, used to strike the ball.

  4. Sports

    1. A club used in cricket, having a broad, flat-surfaced hitting end and a distinct, narrow handle.

    2. The racket used in various games, such as table tennis or racquets.

v.   bat·ted, bat·ting, bats

v.   tr.

  1. To hit with or as if with a bat.

  2. Baseball

    1. To cause (a run) to be scored while at bat: batted the winning run in with a double.

    2. To have (a certain percentage) as a batting average.

  3. Informal To discuss or consider at length: bat an idea around.

v.   intr.

  1. Baseball

    1. To use a bat.

    2. To have a turn at bat.

  2. Slang To wander about aimlessly.

Phrasal Verb(s):
bat outInformal To produce in a hurried or informal manner: batted out thank-you notes all morning.

Idiom(s):
at bat Sports Taking one's turn to bat, as in baseball or cricket.

Idiom(s):
go to bat forTo give assistance to; defend.

Idiom(s):
off the batWithout hesitation; immediately: They responded right off the bat.

[Middle English, perhaps partly of Celtic origin and partly from Old French batte, pounding implement, flail (from batre, to beat; see batter1).]
bat 2   (bāt)   
n.  Any of various nocturnal flying mammals of the order Chiroptera, having membranous wings that extend from the forelimbs to the hind limbs or tail and anatomical adaptations for echolocation, by which they navigate and hunt prey.

[Alteration of Middle English bakke, of Scandinavian origin.]
bat 3   (bāt)   
tr.v.   bat·ted, bat·ting, bats
To wink or flutter: bat one's eyelashes.

[Probably a variant of bate2.]
bat 4   (bāt)   
n.   Slang
A binge; a spree.

[Probably from batter, spree.]
BAT  
abbr.  Bachelor of Arts in Teaching
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
bat

  1. n.
    a drinking bout. : She was on a bat that lasted over a week.
  2. n.
    a drunkard; a person on a drinking spree. : A tired old bat—still waving a bottle—met me on the stairs.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

bat  (n1.)
"a stick," O.E. *batt "cudgel," perhaps from Celtic (cf. Ir. and Gael. bat, bata "staff, cudgel"), infl. by O.Fr. batte, from L.L. battre "beat," all from PIE base *bhat- "to strike." As a kind of paddle used to play cricket, it is attested from 1706.

bat  (n2.)
"flying rodent," c.1575, a dialect alteration of M.E. bakke, which is prob. rel. to O.Sw. natbakka, O.Dan. nathbakkæ "night bat," and O.N. leðrblaka "leather flapper," so orig. sense is likely "flapper." The shift from -k- to -t- may have come through confusion with bakke "nocturnal insect," from L. blatta "moth." O.E. word for the animal was hreremus, from hreran "to shake." Batty "nuts" is attested from 1903.

bat  (v.)
"to move the eyelids," 1847, Amer.Eng., from earlier sense of "flutter as a hawk" (1615), a variant of bate (2) on the notion of fluttering wings.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: bat
Pronunciation: 'bat
Function: noun
: any of an order (Chiroptera) of nocturnal placental flying mammals with forelimbs modified to form wings
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Bible Dictionary

Bat

The Hebrew word (atalleph') so rendered (Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18) implies "flying in the dark." The bat is reckoned among the birds in the list of unclean animals. To cast idols to the "moles and to the bats" means to carry them into dark caverns or desolate places to which these animals resort (Isa. 2:20), i.e., to consign them to desolation or ruin.

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

bat

In addition to the idioms beginning with bat, also see at bat; blind as a bat; bats in one's belfry; go to bat for; like a bat out of hell right off the bat.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Abbreviations & Acronyms
BAT

  1. Bachelor of Arts in Teaching

  2. best available technology

The American Heritage® Abbreviations Dictionary, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
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