bat

/bæt/

/bæt/

Other forms: bats; batting; batted

A bat is used in the sports of baseball and cricket to hit a small, hard ball. In baseball, a bat can be made out of wood or aluminum.

Bat can be a verb as well: when you're up at bat in a baseball game, it means it's your turn to bat with the bat. There is also an animal called a bat, a small, nocturnal bird-like mammal. People can be said to "bat their eyelashes," or flutter them flirtatiously, as well. This last meaning, from the mid-1800s, comes from an earlier sense of bat, "flutter like a hawk's wings."

Definitions of bat

1. noun

   a club used for hitting a ball in various games
   types:

   baseball bat, lumber

   an implement used in baseball by the batter

   paddle

   small wooden bat with a flat surface; used for hitting balls in various games

   pingpong paddle, table-tennis bat, table-tennis racquet

   paddle used to play table tennis

   type of:

   club

   stout stick that is larger at one end
2. noun

   the club used in playing cricket
   “a cricket bat has a narrow handle and a broad flat end for hitting”

   synonyms: cricket bat

   type of:

   cricket equipment

   sports equipment used in playing cricket
3. noun

   a small racket with a long handle used for playing squash
   synonyms: squash racket, squash racquet

   type of:

   racket, racquet

   a sports implement (usually consisting of a handle and an oval frame with a tightly interlaced network of strings) used to strike a ball (or shuttlecock) in various games
4. noun

   (baseball) a turn trying to get a hit
   “he was at bat when it happened”

   “he got four hits in four at-bats”

   synonyms: at-bat

   type of:

   play, turn

   (game) the activity of doing something in an agreed succession
5. verb

   use a bat
   “Who's batting?”

   type of:

   hit

   deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument
6. verb

   strike with, or as if with a baseball bat
   “bat the ball”

   types:

   switch-hit

   bat right-handed against a left-handed and left-handed against a right-handed pitcher

   type of:

   hit

   deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument
7. verb

   have a turn at bat
   “Jones bats first, followed by Martinez”

   type of:

   hit

   deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument
8. noun

   nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate
   synonyms: chiropteran

   types:

   fruit bat, megabat

   large Old World bat of warm and tropical regions that feeds on fruit

   carnivorous bat, microbat

   typically having large ears and feeding primarily on insects; worldwide in distribution

   flying fox

   large bat with a head that resembles the head of a fox

   Pteropus capestratus

   a variety of fruit bat

   Pteropus hypomelanus

   a variety of fruit bat

   harpy, harpy bat, tube-nosed bat, tube-nosed fruit bat

   any of various fruit bats of the genus Nyctimene distinguished by nostrils drawn out into diverging tubes

   Cynopterus sphinx

   a variety of fruit eating bat

   mouse-eared bat

   a carnivorous bat with ears like a mouse

   leaf-nosed bat, leafnose bat

   bat having a leaflike flap at the end of the nose; especially of the families Phyllostomatidae and Rhinolophidae and Hipposideridae

   vespertilian bat, vespertilionid

   a variety of carnivorous bat

   brown bat

   any of numerous medium to small insectivorous bats found worldwide in caves and trees and buildings

   free-tailed bat, freetail, freetailed bat

   small swift insectivorous bat with leathery ears and a long tail; common in warm regions

   mastiff bat

   a soft-furred chocolate-brown bat with folded ears and small wings; often runs along the ground

   true vampire bat, vampire bat

   any of various tropical American bats of the family Desmodontidae that bite mammals and birds to feed on their blood

   type of:

   eutherian, eutherian mammal, placental, placental mammal

   mammals having a placenta; all mammals except monotremes and marsupials
9. verb

   wink briefly
   “bat one's eyelids”

   synonyms: flutter

   type of:

   blink, nictate, nictitate, wink

   briefly shut the eyes
10. verb

    beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight
    synonyms: annihilate, clobber, cream, drub, lick, thrash

    flail, lam, thrash, thresh

    give a thrashing to; beat hard

    type of:

    beat, beat out, crush, shell, trounce, vanquish

    come out better in a competition, race, or conflict