Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Formed or shaped like a bat's wing: Describes something, especially a sleeve or a garment's shape, that resembles the wing of a bat in its broad, often flared or draped, form.

2. Noun:

   • One of a pair of swinging doors: Refers to a single door, typically one of a pair, that is hinged to swing in both directions, commonly associated with the entrances to saloons in the American Old West.

Examples

• Adjective:

  • She wore a stylish black top with batwing sleeves.
  • The batwing shape of the cloak made him look dramatic.

• Noun:

  • The cowboy pushed through the batwing doors into the noisy saloon.
  • One of the batwings was broken and wouldn't swing properly.

Advanced Usage

• As a stylistic descriptor: In fashion, "batwing" is a specific technical term for a sleeve cut that is very wide at the armhole and narrows toward the wrist or is continuous with the garment's body, creating a winged silhouette.
  • The designer's latest collection heavily features the batwing silhouette.

Variants and Related Words

• Bat-wing (hyphenated form): An alternative spelling, often used as an adjective.
  • It was a bat-wing sleeve design.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Flared, dolman (specifically for sleeves), winged.
• Noun: Swinging door, saloon door, double-action door.

Related Phrases

• Batwing doors: The common plural form used to describe the pair of doors.
  • The classic saloon had a set of batwing doors.

Related Idioms

Adjective

1. formed or shaped like a bat's wing
   • a dress with batwing sleeves

Noun

1. one of a pair of swinging doors (as at the entrance to a western saloon)