Search results for 'bat':

BAT abbreviation British-American Tobacco Company.

bat¹ noun 1 a shaped piece of wood, with a flat or curved surface, for hitting the ball in cricket, baseball, table-tennis, etc. Compare racket¹. 2 chiefly cricket a batsman or batswoman. 3 a flat round short-handled signalling device used by a batsman (sense 2) to guide aircraft on the ground. 4 a quick and usually gentle or inoffensive blow with a flat hand or other flat-sided object, etc. verb (batted, batting) 1 intrans, cricket, baseball, etc to take a turn at hitting a ball with a bat; to have an innings • get a chance to bat before lunch. 2 to hit something with, or as if with, a bat. off one's own bat unaided.
ETYMOLOGY: Anglo-Saxon batt club or stick.

bat² noun any of numerous species of small nocturnal mammals which have a fur-covered body and membranous wings, and in most cases hunt for food in darkness by relying mainly on echolocation. have bats in the belfry colloq to be crazy or slightly mad. See also bats, batty. like a bat out of hell colloq very fast.
ETYMOLOGY: 16c; 14c as bakke.

bat³ verb (batted, batting) to open and close (one's eyelids) very quickly, usually to attract sympathy or admiration • batted her eyelashes coyly at him. not bat an eye or eyelid colloq, originally US to show no surprise or emotion • He didn't bat an eye when he heard the news.
ETYMOLOGY: 17c as a variant of bate (used of a hawk) to flutter or flap (when on the leash).