bat

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   in baseball, a turn trying to get a hit

   I was at bat when it happened.

2. 2
   noun

   the club used in playing cricket

   a cricket bat has a narrow handle and a broad flat end for hitting

3. 3
   verb

   to wink briefly

   They batted their eyelashes at me.

4. 4
   verb

   to strike with, or as if with a baseball bat

   I bat the ball.

5. 5
   verb

   to use a bat

   Who's batting?

6. 6
   verb

   to have a turn at bat

   Jones bats first, followed by Martinez.

7. 7
   noun

   Any flying mammal of the order Chiroptera, usually small and nocturnal, insectivorous or frugivorous.

   The Bat—they called him the Bat. Like a bat he chose the night hours for his work of rapine; like a bat he struck and vanished, pouncingly, noiselessly; like a bat he never showed himself to the face of the day.

8. 8
   noun

   An old woman.

   "Isn't it lovely?" I smiled and thought: "Yes it is. It's also a Blackbird, you silly old bat!

Etymology

From Middle English batten, baten (“to beat”), from Old French batre (“to beat”), from Late Latin battere, from Latin battuere, of uncertain origin; perhaps of Germanic or Celtic origin. In modern English reinterpreted as a verbal derivative of Etymology 2. Compare batter, battery.