Definition

1. Noun:

   • A club for hitting a ball: A specially shaped piece of wood, metal, or other material used to strike the ball in games like baseball, cricket, or table tennis.
   • A nocturnal flying mammal: A small mammal with wings formed from skin stretched between its fingers, legs, and tail, which is active at night and navigates by echolocation.

2. Verb:

   • To hit with a bat: To take a turn hitting the ball in games like baseball or cricket.
   • To flutter or wink: To open and close the eyes quickly.
   • To discuss or consider: (Informal, chiefly in "bat around") To discuss an idea informally.

Usage and Examples

• Noun (Sports Equipment):
  • He swung the bat and hit a home run.
  • The cricket bat is made of willow wood.
• Noun (Animal):
  • A bat flew out of the cave at dusk.
  • Bats use echolocation to find insects in the dark.
• Verb (To hit):
  • Who is batting next for our team?
  • She batted the ball into the outfield.
• Verb (To wink):
  • She didn't even bat an eyelid at the surprising news. (This is an idiom meaning to show no surprise or reaction.)

Advanced Usage and Idioms

• Right off the bat: Immediately, without delay.
  • He understood the problem right off the bat.
• Not bat an eye/eyelid: To show no surprise, shock, or emotion.
  • She heard the bad news and didn't bat an eyelid.
• Go to bat for someone: To support or defend someone.
  • His mentor always went to bat for him during meetings.
• Like a bat out of hell: Very fast.
  • The car sped away like a bat out of hell.
• Have bats in the belfry: To be crazy or eccentric.
  • The old man who talks to his plants is thought to have bats in the belfry.

Variants and Related Words

• Batsman/Batter (n): A player who is batting, especially in cricket or baseball.
• Batting (n): The action of hitting with a bat; also, the cotton or wool filling in a quilt.
• Batty (adj, informal): Crazy or eccentric.
  • That idea sounds completely batty.
• Batting average (n): In baseball, a statistic measuring a batter's performance.

Synonyms

• Club, Stick (for the sports equipment).
• Chiropteran (formal for the animal).
• Hit, Strike (for the verb).
• Wink, Flutter (for the eye movement).

Phrasal Verbs

• Bat around:
  • To hit a ball back and forth informally.

    • They batted the ball around in the yard.
  • To discuss an idea informally.

    • Let's bat that proposal around at the next meeting.
• Bat out (Informal): To produce something quickly.
  • The writer batted out three articles in one night.

Noun

1. a club used for hitting a ball in various games
2. the club used in playing cricket
   • a cricket bat has a narrow handle and a broad flat end for hitting
3. a small racket with a long handle used for playing squash
4. (baseball) a turn trying to get a hit
   • he was at bat when it happened
   • he got four hits in four at-bats
5. nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate

Verb

1. beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight
   • We licked the other team on Sunday!
2. use a bat
   • Who's batting?
3. have a turn at bat
   • Jones bats first, followed by Martinez
4. wink briefly
   • bat one's eyelids
5. strike with, or as if with a baseball bat
   • bat the ball