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batter

 - 11 dictionary results

bat⋅ter

1  [bat-er]
Use batter in a Sentence
–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
4. 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 bate 2 ), with the inf. ending identified with -er 6 ; cf. AF baterer

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

bat⋅ter

2  [bat-er]
–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 bate 2 ) + -eure < *-ātūra; see -ate 2 , -ure ), reinforced by batter 1

bat⋅ter

3  [bat-er]
–noun
a player who swings a bat or whose turn it is to bat, as in baseball or cricket.
Origin:
1765–75; bat 1 + -er 1

bat⋅ter

4  [bat-er] 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
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To batter
bat·ter 1   (bāt'ər)   
v.   bat·tered, bat·ter·ing, bat·ters

v.   tr.

  1. To hit heavily and repeatedly with violent blows.

  2. To subject to repeated beatings or physical abuse.

  3. 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.
bat·ter 2   (bāt'ər)   
n.   Sports
The player at bat in baseball and cricket.
bat·ter 3   (bāt'ər)   
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.]
bat·ter 4   (bāt'ər)   
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.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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.

batter  (n.)
"flour and milk," 1381, from O.Fr. batteure "a beating," from L. battuere (see batter (v.)).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

batter

mixture of flour and liquid with other ingredients, such as leavening agents, shortening, sugar, salt, eggs, and various flavouring materials, used to make baked products

Learn more about batter with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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