bat
Any flying mammal of the order Chiroptera, usually small and nocturnal, insectivorous or frugivorous.
Noun 4 meanings
Any flying mammal of the order Chiroptera, usually small and nocturnal, insectivorous or frugivorous.
A club, made of wood like a baseball bat or otherwise, used as a weapon
A club made of wood or aluminium used for striking the ball in sports such as baseball, softball and cricket.
A turn at hitting the ball with a bat in a game.
“You've been in for ages. Can I have a bat now?”
Verb 4 meanings
To hit with a bat or (figuratively) as if with a bat.
“He batted the ball away with a satisfying thwack.”
To take a turn at hitting a ball with a bat in sports like cricket, baseball and softball, as opposed to fielding.
To strike or swipe as though with a bat.
“The cat batted at the toy.”
To flutter
“to bat one’s eyelashes”
Etymology
Dialectal variant of Middle English bakke, balke, of North Germanic origin (akin to dialectal Swedish natt-batta). Perhaps compare Old Norse (leðr)blaka (literally “(leather) flapper”), from leðr + blaka (“to flap”). Compare also Old Swedish natbakka, Old Danish nathbakkæ.
Similar and opposite words
BAT at a glance
BAT has 3 letters and scores 5 points in Scrabble (B 3 + A 1 + T 1) and 6 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #4,204 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with bat
All rhymes- COMBAT12
- ACROBAT11
- RABAT7
- WOMBAT13
- SABBAT10
- DINGBAT11
- NONCOMBAT15
- BRICKBAT18
- NUMBAT10
- BULLBAT11
- RYBAT10
- AEROBAT9
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