noun

bat

noun

A small, flying, mostly nocturnal mammal with wings made of skin stretched between its fingers.

"Bats swooped out of the cave at dusk to hunt insects."

A wooden or metal club used to hit the ball in sports such as baseball and cricket.

"He gripped the bat tightly as the pitcher wound up."

verb

To take a turn hitting the ball in games like cricket or baseball.

"Our team bats first this innings."

To strike or swipe at something, often playfully or lightly.

"The kitten batted at the dangling string."

How to Use Bat

Learner’s notes

Common mistake

The animal and the sports equipment are two completely unrelated words that just happen to be spelled the same.

Common pairings

bat and ball blind as a bat go to bat for someone

Word Forms

batted past tense, batted past tense, bats plural, bats plural, bats plural, bats plural, bats singular, bats singular

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Fill the Gap

Can you complete this real example?

_____ swooped out of the cave at dusk to hunt insects.

Etymology

The flying-mammal sense comes from a dialect word related to Middle English "bakke"; the sporting-equipment sense is unrelated, from Old French "batte," meaning a club or beater.

Rhymes for bat

wombat combat acrobat

See all rhymes for bat →