Collins English-English Dictionary

bat [bæt]

1. 1. n any of various types of club with a handle, used to hit the ball in certain sports, such as cricket, baseball, or table tennis

2. 2. n a flat round club with a short handle, resembling a table-tennis bat, used by a man on the ground to guide the pilot of an aircraft when taxiing

3. 3. n short for batsman

4. 4. n [cricket] any stout stick, esp a wooden one

5. 5. n [informal] a blow from such a stick

6. 6. n [Austral] a small board used for tossing the coins in the game of two-up

7. 7. n [US and Canadian] [slang] a drinking spree; binge

8. 8. n [slang] speed; rate; pace

   they went at a fair bat

9. 9. n another word for batting

10. 10. vt. [tr] to strike with or as if with a bat

11. 11. vi. [intr] [sport] (of a player or a team) to take a turn at batting

12. 12. vi. See also bat around

13. 13. vi. [Etymology] Old English batt club, probably of Celtic origin; compare Gaelic bat, Russian bat

bat [bæt]

1. 1. n any placental mammal of the order Chiroptera, being a nocturnal mouselike animal flying with a pair of membranous wings (patagia). The group is divided into the Megachiroptera (fruit bats) and Microchiroptera (insectivorous bats)

2. 2. n [slang] an irritating or eccentric woman (esp in the phrase old bat)

3. 3. n [Etymology] C14 bakke, probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse ledhrblaka leather-flapper, Swedish dialect natt-batta night bat

bat [bæt]

1. 1. vt. [tr] to wink or flutter (one's eyelids)

2. 2. vt. [Etymology] C17: probably a variant of bate²