bat

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bat^¹

/bæt/ Australia, UK, US
/bat/ British, Northern England, Scotland
/bɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

Variant of Middle English bakke, of North Germanic origin (akin to Danish aftenbakke and Swedish nattbacka, both now dialectal). Swedish also has nattblacka, and Icelandic has leðurblaka, in which the second element is a derivative of blaka (“to flap”), but it is unclear whether this word is also the source of bakke, backa, etc.

noun bats

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.
Similar: chiropter, chiropteran, flindermouse, flitterbat, flittermouse, fluttermouse, flying mouse, rattlemouse, reremouse
derogatory An old woman. "Isn't it lovely?" I smiled and thought: "Yes it is. It's also a Blackbird, you silly old bat!

bat^²

/bæt/ Australia, UK, US
/bat/ British, Northern England, Scotland
/bɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

From Middle English bat, batte, from Old English batt (“bat, club, cudgel”), probably of Celtic origin, compare Old Breton bath (“club, cudgel”) and modern Breton bazh (“swagger stick”), ultimately from a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *bʰedʰh₂- (“to strike, beat, pierce”), similar to the Gaulish source of Latin battuō (“to beat, pound”).

noun bats

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?
A player rated according to skill in batting. He's a good fielder and a valuable bat.
The piece of wood on which the spinner places the coins and then uses for throwing them.
Similar: kip, kylie, lannet, stick
Shale or bituminous shale. bituminous shale ; which miners , if I mistake not , call bat
A sheet of cotton used for filling quilts or comfortables; batting.
A part of a brick with one whole end.
A stroke; a sharp blow.
A removable flat board or disk attached to a potter's wheel prior to throwing used to transport and dry greenware.
Scotland, UK, dialectal A stroke of work.
informal Rate of motion; speed. On starting, The Nun led at a very slow pace for a quarter of a mile, when the Shrigley colt made running at a good bat.
US, dated, slang A spree; a jollification; a binge, jag.
Scotland, UK, dialectal Manner; rate; condition; state of health.
Kent A rough walking stick. So ſlides he dovvne vppon his greyned bat; / And comely diſtant ſits he by her ſide, […]

bat^³

/bæt/ Australia, UK, US
/bat/ British, Northern England, Scotland
/bɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

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.

verb bats · batting · batted

transitive To hit with a bat or (figuratively) as if with a bat. He batted the ball away with a satisfying thwack.
intransitive To take a turn at hitting a ball with a bat in sports like cricket, baseball and softball, as opposed to fielding.
intransitive To strike or swipe as though with a bat. The cat batted at the toy.
UK, dialectal, obsolete To bate or flutter, as a hawk.

bat^⁴

/bæt/ Australia, UK, US
/bat/ British, Northern England, Scotland
/bɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

Possibly a variant of bate.

verb bats · batting · batted

transitive To flutter. to bat one’s eyelashes
UK, US, dialectal To wink.
intransitive, usually, with ‘around’ or ‘about’ To flit quickly from place to place. I’ve spent all week batting around the country.

bat^⁵

/bæt/ Australia, UK, US
/bat/ British, Northern England, Scotland
/bɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

Where it comes from

Borrowed from French bât, from Old French bast, from Vulgar Latin *bastum, form of *bastāre (“to carry”), from Ancient Greek βαστάζω (bastázō, “to lift, carry”). Doublet of baton and baston.

noun bats

obsolete A packsaddle.

bat^⁶

/bæt/ Australia, UK, US
/bat/ British, Northern England, Scotland
/bɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

noun

dated Dated form of baht (“Thai currency”).

bat^⁷

/bæt/ Australia, UK, US
/bat/ British, Northern England, Scotland
/bɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

noun bats

Caribbean, Multicultural London English, abbreviation, clipping Clipping of batty (“buttocks or anus”).

bat^⁸

/bæt/ Australia, UK, US
/bat/ British, Northern England, Scotland
/bɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

noun bats

UK, dialectal, obsolete A child's shoe without a welt. The retailer who sells a little girl a pretty pair of shoes today instead of a pair of bats, is bound to sell that girl, when she grows up, a pair of stylish $3 or $4 shoes instead of her buying a pair of $1.98 bargain bats elsewhere.
UK, obsolete, slang A boot that is badly made or in poor condition.

bat^⁹

/bæt/ Australia, UK, US
/bat/ British, Northern England, Scotland
/bɛt/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -æt

noun bats

abbreviation, clipping, slang Clipping of battery All these things must sell... […] * Motorola Cell phone bat/case/no contract

BAT¹⁰

proper noun

abbreviation Abbreviation of Bathurst

noun BATs

abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of best available technology: a principle applying to regulations on limiting pollutant discharges.
abbreviation, countable, initialism, uncountable Initialism of brown adipose tissue
China, countable, uncountable One or more of the Chinese technology companies Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: chiropteran, lick, drub, flutter, lumber, thrash, clobber, squash racket, baseball bat, cricket bat, at-bat, squash racquet, reremouse, gopher, guano, owl

Translations

Every language

noun small flying mammal

Español	murciélago, ratón volador, murciégalo, morciguillo, murceguillo, panarra
한국어	박쥐 bakjwi, 편복 pyeonbok
日本語	蝙蝠, 天鼠 tenso, 飛鼠 hiso
中文	蝙蝠 biānfú, 飛鼠 /飞鼠 fēishǔ, 伏翼 fúyì, 服翼 fúyì, 仙鼠 xiānshǔ, 夜燕 yèyàn
हिन्दी	चमगादड़ camgādaṛ, गादुर gādur
Kiswahili	popo
Português	morcego
Français	chauve-souris, chauvesouris
Deutsch	Fledermaus
Italiano	pipistrello
Ελληνικά	νυχτερίδα nychterída
Română	liliac
Русский	лету́чая мышь letúčaja myšʹ, нетопы́рь netopýrʹ, кожа́н kožán
Tiếng Việt	dơi
العربية	وَطْوَاط waṭwāṭ, خُفَّاش ḵuffāš, خُفْدُود ḵufdūd, خَنْفُوش ḵanfūš
עברית	עֲטַלֵּף ataléf

noun club used for striking the ball in sports

Español	bate, bat
한국어	방망이 bangmang'i, 배트 baeteu
日本語	バット batto
中文	球棒 qiúbàng, 球拍 qiúpāi
हिन्दी	बल्ला ballā
Português	bastão, taco
Français	batte, bâton
Deutsch	Schläger, Keule
Italiano	mazza, racchetta
Ελληνικά	ρόπαλο rópalo, χτυπητήρι chtypitíri
Română	bâtă, baston, ciomag, măciucă
Русский	би́та bíta, бита́ bitá
Tiếng Việt	chày
العربية	مِضْرَب miḍrab, عَصًا ʕaṣan

noun turn at batting

हिन्दी	बल्लेबाजी करना ballebājī karnā

verb transitive: hit

Español	batear
हिन्दी	बल्ले से मारना balle se mārnā
Português	tacar
Deutsch	schlagen
Română	bate

verb intransitive: take a turn at hitting a ball with a bat

Español	fonguear

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Cite this

MLA

"bat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bat. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bat. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bat

Chicago

"bat." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bat.

BibTeX

@misc{bat_2026,
  title = {bat},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bat},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}

bat

AI In plain words

bat¹

Where it comes from

noun bats

bat²

Where it comes from

noun bats

bat³

Where it comes from

verb bats · batting · batted

bat⁴

Where it comes from

verb bats · batting · batted

bat⁵

Where it comes from

noun bats

bat⁶

noun

bat⁷

noun bats

bat⁸

noun bats

bat⁹

noun bats

BAT10

proper noun

noun BATs

Thesaurus

Translations

noun small flying mammal

noun club used for striking the ball in sports

noun turn at batting

verb transitive: hit

verb intransitive: take a turn at hitting a ball with a bat

bat^¹

bat^²

bat^³

bat^⁴

bat^⁵

bat^⁶

bat^⁷

bat^⁸

bat^⁹

BAT¹⁰