28 results for: batter

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

bat·ter1

Audio Help [bat-er] Pronunciation Key

–verb (used with object)

1.	to beat persistently or hard; pound repeatedly.

2.	to damage by beating or hard usage: Rough roads had battered the car. High winds were battering the coast.

–verb (used without object)

3.	to deal heavy, repeated blows; pound steadily: continuing to batter at the front door.

–noun

Printing.

a.	a damaged area on the face of type or plate.

b.	the resulting defect in print.

[Origin: 1300–50; ME bateren, prob. < MF, OF batre to beat (see bate²), with the inf. ending identified with -er⁶; cf. AF baterer

]

—Synonyms 1. belabor, smite, pelt. 2. bruise, wound; smash, shatter, shiver; destroy, ruin.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
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Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
batter

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bat·ter2

Audio Help [bat-er] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	a mixture of flour, milk or water, eggs, etc., beaten together for use in cookery.

–verb (used with object)

2.	to coat with batter.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME bat(o)ur, bat(e)re, perh. < AF bature, OF bat(e)ure act of beating (bat(re) to beat (see bate²) + -eure < *-ātūra; see -ate², -ure), reinforced by batter¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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bat·ter3

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–noun

a player who swings a bat or whose turn it is to bat, as in baseball or cricket.

[Origin: 1765–75; bat¹ + -er¹

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

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bat·ter4

Audio Help [bat-er] Pronunciation Key Architecture

–verb (used without object)

1.	(of the face of a wall or the like) to slope backward and upward.

–noun

2.	a backward and upward slope of the face of a wall or the like.

[Origin: 1540–50; of obscure orig.

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

bat·ter¹ Audio Help   (bāt'ər) Pronunciation Key
v.   bat·tered, bat·ter·ing, bat·ters

v.   tr.

To hit heavily and repeatedly with violent blows.
To subject to repeated beatings or physical abuse.
To damage, as by heavy wear.

v. intr.
To pound repeatedly with heavy blows.

n. Printing
A damaged area on the face of type or on a plate.

[Middle English bateren, from Old French batre, from Late Latin battere, from Latin battuere.]

Synonyms: These verbs mean to damage, injure, or disfigure by beating, abuse, or hard use: a house battered by a hurricane; a construction worker maimed in an accident; machinery that mangled the worker's fingers; a tent mauled by a hungry bear; mutilated the painting with a razor. See Also Synonyms at beat.

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bat·ter² Audio Help (bāt'ər) Pronunciation Key
n. Sports
The player at bat in baseball and cricket.

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bat·ter³ Audio Help   (bāt'ər) Pronunciation Key
n.   A liquid or semiliquid mixture, as of flour, milk, and eggs, used in cooking.

tr.v.   bat·tered, bat·ter·ing, bat·ters
To coat in batter: battered the vegetables and then fried them.

[Middle English bater, probably from Old French bateure, a beating, from batre, to beat; see batter¹.]

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bat·ter⁴ Audio Help   (bāt'ər) Pronunciation Key
n.   A slope, as of the outer face of a wall, that recedes from bottom to top.

tr.v.   bat·tered, bat·ter·ing, bat·ters
To construct so as to create an upwardly receding slope.

[Origin unknown.]

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Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
batter (v.)

"strike repeatedly," c.1330, from O.Fr. battre "to beat, strike," from L. battuere "to beat," an old word in Latin, but almost certainly borrowed from Gaulish, from PIE base *bhau- "to strike" (cf. Welsh bathu "beat;" O.E. beadu "battle," beatan "to beat," bytl "hammer, mallet"). Began to be widely used 1962 in reference to domestic abuse. Battering-ram is an ancient weapon (L. aries), but the word attested only from 1611.

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batter (n.)

"flour and milk," 1381, from O.Fr. batteure "a beating," from L. battuere (see batter (v.)).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

batter
noun
1.	(baseball) a ballplayer who is batting
2.	a liquid or semiliquid mixture, as of flour, eggs, and milk, used in cooking
verb
1.	strike against forcefully; "Winds buffeted the tent" [syn: buffet]
2.	strike violently and repeatedly; "She clobbered the man who tried to attack her" [syn: clobber]
3.	make a dent or impression in; "dinge a soft hat" [syn: dinge]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary (Beta Version) - Cite This Source - Share This
batter [ˈbatə] verb

to beat with blow after blow
Example: He was battered to death with a large stick.

Arabic:	يَضْرِبُ باسْتِمْرار
Chinese (Simplified):	连续地猛击
Chinese (Traditional):	連續地猛擊
Czech:	mlátit, (u)bít
Danish:	slå; mishandle
Estonian:	peksma, kloppima, kolkima
Finnish:	hakata
Greek:	χτυπώ δυνατά και κατ' εξακολούθηση, τσακίζω
Hungarian:	dönget, bántalmaz
Indonesian:	memukul bertubi-tubi

Latvian:	sist; dauzīt
Lithuanian:	smarkiai daužyti, *mušti
Norwegian:	slå, mishandle
Polish:	zbić, zmaltretować
Russian:	избивать
Slovak:	biť, tĺcť
Slovenian:	premlatiti
Spanish:	moler a palos, apalear
Swedish:	slå, hamra, bulta, misshandla
Turkish:	durmadan sert darbelerle vurmak

batter [ˈbatə] noun

a mixture of flour, eggs and milk or water used in cooking. fry the fish in batter; pancake batter

Arabic:	عَجينَةٌ من الدَّقيق والحَليب والبَيْض
Chinese (Simplified):	牛奶鸡蛋面糊
Chinese (Traditional):	牛奶雞蛋面糊
Czech:	těsto
Danish:	dej; paneringsblanding
Estonian:	paneering
Greek:	κουρκούτι
Hungarian:	palacsintatészta (sütés előtt)
Indonesian:	adonan

Latvian:	mīkla
Lithuanian:	tešla
Norwegian:	røre (vaffel-); paneringsblanding
Polish:	panier
Russian:	кляр
Slovak:	cestíčko na obaľovanie
Spanish:	mezcla culinaria a base de harina, huevos y leche o agua
Swedish:	smet
Turkish:	akıtma hamuru, sulu hamur

See also: battered

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Batter

A*bate"\ ([.a]*b[=a]t"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abated, p. pr. & vb. n. Abating.] [OF. abatre to beat down, F. abattre, LL. abatere; ab or ad + batere, battere (popular form for L. batuere to beat). Cf. Bate, Batter.]

1. To beat down; to overthrow. [Obs.]

The King of Scots . . . sore abated the walls. --Edw. Hall.

2. To bring down or reduce from a higher to a lower state, number, or degree; to lessen; to diminish; to contract; to moderate; to cut short; as, to abate a demand; to abate pride, zeal, hope.

His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. --Deut. xxxiv. 7.

3. To deduct; to omit; as, to abate something from a price.

Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds. --Fuller.

4. To blunt. [Obs.]

To abate the edge of envy. --Bacon.

5. To reduce in estimation; to deprive. [Obs.]

She hath abated me of half my train. --Shak.

6. (Law) (a) To bring entirely down or put an end to; to do away with; as, to abate a nuisance, to abate a writ. (b) (Eng. Law) To diminish; to reduce. Legacies are liable to be abated entirely or in proportion, upon a deficiency of assets.

To abate a tax, to remit it either wholly or in part.

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Batter

Bait\, v. i. [F. battre de l'aile (or des ailes), to flap or flutter. See Batter, v. i.] To flap the wings; to flutter as if to fly; or to hover, as a hawk when she stoops to her prey. "Kites that bait and beat." --Shak.

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Batter

Bat"ten\, n. [F. battant. See Batter, v. t.] The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof.

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Batter

Bat"ter\ (b[a^]t"t[~e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Battered (-t[~e]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Battering.] [OE. bateren, OF. batre, F. battre, fr. LL. battere, for L. batuere to strike, beat; of unknown origin. Cf. Abate, Bate to abate.]

1. To beat with successive blows; to beat repeatedly and with violence, so as to bruise, shatter, or demolish; as, to batter a wall or rampart.

2. To wear or impair as if by beating or by hard usage. "Each battered jade." --Pope.

3. (Metallurgy) To flatten (metal) by hammering, so as to compress it inwardly and spread it outwardly.

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Batter

Bat"ter\, n. [OE. batere, batire; cf. OF. bateure, bature, a beating. See Batter, v. t.]

1. A semi-liquid mixture of several ingredients, as, flour, eggs, milk, etc., beaten together and used in cookery. --King.

2. Paste of clay or loam. --Holland.

3. (Printing) A bruise on the face of a plate or of type in the form.

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Batter

Bat"ter\, n. [OE. batere, batire; cf. OF. bateure, bature, a beating. See Batter, v. t.]

1. A semi-liquid mixture of several ingredients, as, flour, eggs, milk, etc., beaten together and used in cookery. --King.

2. Paste of clay or loam. --Holland.

3. (Printing) A bruise on the face of a plate or of type in the form.

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Batter

Bat"ter\, n. A backward slope in the face of a wall or of a bank; receding slope.

Batter rule, an instrument consisting of a rule or frame, and a plumb line, by which the batter or slope of a wall is regulated in building.

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Batter

Bat"ter\, v. i. (Arch.) To slope gently backward.

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Batter

Bat"ter\, n. One who wields a bat; a batsman.

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Batter

Bat"ter*y\, n.; pl. Batteries. [F. batterie, fr. battre. See Batter, v. t.]

1. The act of battering or beating.

2. (Law) The unlawful beating of another. It includes every willful, angry and violent, or negligent touching of another's person or clothes, or anything attached to his person or held by him.

3. (Mil.) (a) Any place where cannon or mortars are mounted, for attack or defense. (b) Two or more pieces of artillery in the field. (c) A company or division of artillery, including the gunners, guns, horses, and all equipments. In the United States, a battery of flying artillery consists usually of six guns.

Barbette battery. See Barbette.

Battery d'enfilade, or Enfilading battery, one that sweeps the whole length of a line of troops or part of a work.

Battery en ['e]charpe, one that plays obliquely.

Battery gun, a gun capable of firing a number, of shots simultaneously or successively without stopping to load.

Battery wagon, a wagon employed to transport the tools and materials for repair of the carriages, etc., of the battery.

In battery, projecting, as a gun, into an embrasure or over a parapet in readiness for firing.

Masked battery, a battery artificially concealed until required to open upon the enemy.

Out of battery, or From battery, withdrawn, as a gun, to a position for loading.

4. (Elec.) (a) A number of coated jars (Leyden jars) so connected that they may be charged and discharged simultaneously. (b) An apparatus for generating voltaic electricity.

Note: In the trough battery, copper and zinc plates, connected in pairs, divide the trough into cells, which are filled with an acid or oxidizing liquid; the effect is exhibited when wires connected with the two end-plates are brought together. In Daniell's battery, the metals are zinc and copper, the former in dilute sulphuric acid, or a solution of sulphate of zinc, the latter in a saturated solution of sulphate of copper. A modification of this is the common gravity battery, so called from the automatic action of the two fluids, which are separated by their specific gravities. In Grove's battery, platinum is the metal used with zinc; two fluids are used, one of them in a porous cell surrounded by the other. In Bunsen's or the carbon battery, the carbon of gas coke is substituted for the platinum of Grove's. In Leclanch['e]'s battery, the elements are zinc in a solution of ammonium chloride, and gas carbon surrounded with manganese dioxide in a porous cell. A secondary battery is a battery which usually has the two plates of the same kind, generally of lead, in dilute sulphuric acid, and which, when traversed by an electric current, becomes charged, and is then capable of giving a current of itself for a time, owing to chemical changes produced by the charging current. A storage battery is a kind of secondary battery used for accumulating and storing the energy of electrical charges or currents, usually by means of chemical work done by them; an accumulator.

5. A number of similar machines or devices in position; an apparatus consisting of a set of similar parts; as, a battery of boilers, of retorts, condensers, etc.

6. (Metallurgy) A series of stamps operated by one motive power, for crushing ores containing the precious metals. --Knight.

7. The box in which the stamps for crushing ore play up and down.

8. (Baseball) The pitcher and catcher together.

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Batter

Bat"tle\, n. [OE. bataille, bataile, F. bataille battle, OF., battle, battalion, fr. L. battalia, battualia, the fighting and fencing exercises of soldiers and gladiators, fr. batuere to strike, beat. Cf. Battalia, 1st Battel, and see Batter, v. t. ]

1. A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement; a combat.

2. A struggle; a contest; as, the battle of life.

The whole intellectual battle that had at its center the best poem of the best poet of that day. --H. Morley.

3. A division of an army; a battalion. [Obs.]

The king divided his army into three battles. --Bacon.

The cavalry, by way of distinction, was called the battle, and on it alone depended the fate of every action. --Robertson.

4. The main body, as distinct from the van and rear; battalia. [Obs.] --Hayward.

Note: Battle is used adjectively or as the first part of a self-explaining compound; as, battle brand, a "brand" or sword used in battle; battle cry; battlefield; battle ground; battlearray; battle song.

Battle piece, a painting, or a musical composition, representing a battle.

Battle royal. (a) A fight between several gamecocks, where the one that stands longest is the victor. --Grose. (b) A contest with fists or cudgels in which more than two are engaged; a m[^e]l['e]e. --Thackeray.

Drawn battle, one in which neither party gains the victory.

To give battle, to attack an enemy.

To join battle, to meet the attack; to engage in battle.

Pitched battle, one in which the armies are previously drawn up in form, with a regular disposition of the forces.

Wager of battle. See under Wager, n.

Syn: Conflict; encounter; contest; action.

Usage: Battle, Combat, Fight, Engagement. These words agree in denoting a close encounter between contending parties. Fight is a word of less dignity than the others. Except in poetry, it is more naturally applied to the encounter of a few individuals, and more commonly an accidental one; as, a street fight. A combat is a close encounter, whether between few or many, and is usually premeditated. A battle is commonly more general and prolonged. An engagement supposes large numbers on each side, engaged or intermingled in the conflict.

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Batter

Bat"tue`\, n. [F. battue, fr. battre to beat. See Batter, v. t., and cf. Battuta.] (Hunting) (a) The act of beating the woods, bushes, etc., for game. (b) The game itself. (c) The wanton slaughter of game. --Howitt.

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Batter

Com"bat\ (? or ?; 277), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Combated; p. pr. & vb. n. Combating.] [F. combattre; pref. com- + battre to beat, fr. L. battuere to strike. See Batter.] To struggle or contend, as with an opposing force; to fight.

To combat with a blind man I disdain. --Milton.

After the fall of the republic, the Romans combated only for the choice of masters. --Gibbon.

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Batter

De*bate"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Debated; p. pr. & vb. n. Debating.] [OF. debatre, F. d['e]battre; L. de + batuere to beat. See Batter, v. t., and cf. Abate.]

1. To engage in combat for; to strive for.

Volunteers . . . thronged to serve under his banner, and the cause of religion was debated with the same ardor in Spain as on the plains of Palestine. --Prescott.

2. To contend for in words or arguments; to strive to maintain by reasoning; to dispute; to contest; to discuss; to argue for and against.

A wise council . . . that did debate this business. --Shak.

Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself. --Prov. xxv. 9.

Syn: To argue; discuss; dispute; controvert. See Argue, and Discuss.

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