batn.1
/bat/, U.S. /bæt/ a. An animal, a member of the Mammalian order Cheiroptera, and especially of the family Vespertilionidæ; consisting of mouse-like quadrupeds (whence the names rearmouse, flittermouse), having the fingers extended to support a thin membrane which stretches from the side of the neck by the toes of both pairs of feet to the tail, and forms a kind of wing, with which they fly with a peculiar quivering motion; hence they were formerly classed as birds. They are all nocturnal, retiring by day to dark recesses, to which habits there are many references in literature.Of about 17 species found in Britain the best-known are the Common Bat or Pipistrelle ( Vespertilio Pipistrellus) and the Long-eared Bat ( Plecotus auritus); of the much larger foreign species, the most noted are the Vampires.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Chiroptera or bat > [noun]
rearmouseeOE
bata1300
callow-mouse1340
flinder-mouse1481
flittermouse1547
rattle-mouse1589
flickermouse1631
vespertilio1665
aliped1829
Cheiroptera1835
cheiropteran1835
rat-bat1851
rhinolophid1903
α.
β. 1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Chauvesouris, a Backe, some call it a Bat.1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene ii. xii. sig. Aa3v The lether-winged Batt, dayes enimy.1604 M. Drayton Owle sig. D2v The black-ey'd Bat (the watch-man of the night).a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iii. ii. 41 Ere the Bat hath flowne His Cloyster'd flight. View more context for this quotation1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey III. xii. 513 So to the beam the Bat tenacious clings, And pendant round it clasps his leathern wings.1766 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. i. 55 The irregular, uncertain, and jerking motion of the bat in the air.1770 O. Goldsmith Deserted Village 350 Silent bats in drowsy clusters cling.1791 J. Boswell Life Johnson anno 1778 II. 259 The curious formation of a bat, a mouse with wings.1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. i, in Poems 49 Bats on their webby wings in darkness move.1847 W. B. Carpenter Zool.: Systematic Acct. I. §165 Cheiroptera; the animals of this Order, all of them commonly known as Bats.1852 D. M. Moir Ruins Seton Chapel v The twilight-loving bat, on leathern wing.1870 W. Morris Earthly Paradise I. i. 112 Now the shrill bats were upon the wing.a1300 W. de Biblesworth in Wright Voc. 164 Balke, chaufe-soriz en mesoun.
c1340 Alex. & Dind. 723 Bringen her a nihte-bird . a bakke . or an oule.
1414 T. Brampton Paraphr. Seven Penit. Psalms lxxx. 31 A backe, that flyith be nyȝt.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Isa. ii. 20 Moldewarpis and backis, ether rere myis. [1535 Coverdale, Molles and Backes; 1590 Genev., To the mowles and to the backes; 1611 Moules and battes.]
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 21 Bakke [v.r. bak], flyinge best [v.r. fleynge byrde], vespertilio.
1483 Cath. Angl. 18 A Bakke, blata, vespertilio.
1496 (c1410) Dives & Pauper (de Worde) iii. viii. 144 Lyke oules & backes whiche hate the daye & loue the nyght.
a1500 in Wülcker Voc. /761 Hic vespertilio, hec lucifuga, a bake.
1509 Bp. J. Fisher Wks. (1876) i. 87 More louynge derkenes than lyght, lyke vnto a beest called a backe.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1960) xiii. Prol. 33 Vpgois the bak with hir pelit ledderyn flycht.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Reremowse, or backe whiche flyeth in the darcke, nycteris.
a1554 J. Croke tr. Thirteen Psalms (1844) cii. 20 The backe or owle, That lurketh yn an olde house syde.
1607 R. Parker Scholasticall Disc. against Antichrist ii. vi 71 To cast them to the Moules and to the backes.
1808 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. at Bak The modern name in Sc. is backie-bird.
1863 Prov. Danby Back-bearaway, the bat, or rere mouse.]
b. Colloquial phrase (to have) bats in the belfry: (to be) crazy or eccentric. Similarly (rare) to take the bats. Hence bats = batty adj., used esp. as adjectival complement.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > be or become mad [verb (intransitive)]
dwelec900
wedec900
awedeeOE
starea1275
braidc1275
ravea1325
to be out of mindc1325
woodc1374
to lose one's mindc1380
madc1384
forgetc1385
to go out of one's minda1398
to wede (out) of, but wita1400
foolc1400
to go (also fall, run) mada1450
forcene1490
ragec1515
waltc1540
maddle?c1550
to go (also run, set) a-madding (or on madding)1565
pass of wita1616
to have a gad-bee in one's brain1682
madden1704
to go (also be) off at the nail1721
distract1768
craze1818
to get a rat1890
to need (to have) one's head examined (also checked, read)1896
(to have) bats in the belfryc1901
to have straws in one's hair1923
to take the bats1927
to go haywire1929
to go mental1930
to go troppo1941
to come apart1954
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > [adjective] > insanity or madness > affected with
woodc725
woodsekc890
giddyc1000
out of (by, from, of) wit or one's witc1000
witlessc1000
brainsickOE
amadc1225
lunaticc1290
madc1330
sickc1340
brain-wooda1375
out of one's minda1387
frenetica1398
fonda1400
formada1400
unwisea1400
brainc1400
unwholec1400
alienate?a1425
brainless1434
distract of one's wits1470
madfula1475
furious1475
distract1481
fro oneself1483
beside oneself1490
beside one's patience1490
dementa1500
red-wood?1507
extraught1509
misminded1509
peevish1523
bedlam-ripe1525
straughta1529
fanatic1533
bedlama1535
daft1540
unsounda1547
stark raving (also staring) mad1548
distraughted1572
insane1575
acrazeda1577
past oneself1576
frenzy1577
poll-mad1577
out of one's senses1580
maddeda1586
frenetical1588
distempered1593
distraught1597
crazed1599
diswitted1599
idle-headed1599
lymphatical1603
extract1608
madling1608
distracteda1616
informala1616
far gone1616
crazy1617
March mada1625
non compos mentis1628
brain-crazed1632
demented1632
crack-brained1634
arreptitiousa1641
dementate1640
dementated1650
brain-crackeda1652
insaniated1652
exsensed1654
bedlam-witteda1657
lymphatic1656
mad-like1679
dementative1685
non compos1699
beside one's gravity1716
hyte1720
lymphated1727
out of one's head1733
maddened1735
swivel-eyed1758
wrong1765
brainsickly1770
fatuous1773
derangedc1790
alienated1793
shake-brained1793
crack-headed1796
flighty1802
wowf1802
doitrified1808
phrenesiac1814
bedlamite1815
mad-braineda1822
fey1823
bedlamitish1824
skire1825
beside one's wits1827
as mad as a hatter1829
crazied1842
off one's head1842
bemadded1850
loco1852
off one's nut1858
off his chump1864
unsane1867
meshuga1868
non-sane1868
loony1872
bee-headed1879
off one's onion1881
off one's base1882
(to go) off one's dot1883
locoed1885
screwy1887
off one's rocker1890
balmy or barmy on (or in) the crumpet1891
meshuggener1892
nutty1892
buggy1893
bughouse1894
off one's pannikin1894
ratty1895
off one's trolley1896
batchy1898
twisted1900
batsc1901
batty1903
dippy1903
bugs1904
dingy1904
up the (also a) pole1904
nut1906
nuts1908
nutty as a fruitcake1911
bugged1920
potty1920
cuckoo1923
nutsy1923
puggled1923
blah1924
détraqué1925
doolally1925
off one's rocket1925
puggle1925
mental1927
phooey1927
crackers1928
squirrelly1928
over the edge1929
round the bend1929
lakes1934
ding-a-ling1935
wacky1935
screwball1936
dingbats1937
Asiatic1938
parlatic1941
troppo1941
up the creek1941
screwed-up1943
bonkers1945
psychological1952
out to lunch1955
starkers1956
off (one's) squiff1960
round the twist1960
yampy1963
out of (also off) one's bird1966
out of one's skull1967
whacked out1969
batshit1971
woo-woo1971
nutso1973
out of (one's) gourd1977
wacko1977
off one's meds1986
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > slightly mad > eccentric or cranky
fantastical1531
odd1577
eccentric1685
fanaticized1827
cranky1850
bee-bonneted1856
cornery1887
screwy1887
kinky1889
crankish1892
ratty1895
batchy1898
batsc1901
batty1903
potty1920
offbeat1922
off-centre1930
wacky1935
screwball1936
up the creek1941
oddball1945
wackadoo1958
kooky1959
wiggy1963
flaky1964
nutball1968
woo-woo1971
wacko1977
off-kilter1985
wackadoodle1993
fantastic-
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [verb (intransitive)] > be slightly mad > eccentric or cranky
bees in the head or the brains1553
fanaticize1715
to get a rat1890
(to have) bats in the belfryc1901
to have straws in one's hair1923
to take the bats1927
society > travel > air or space travel > airfield or airport > [noun] > signalling devices to guide aircraft
bats1938
bat1943
society > travel > air or space travel > airfield or airport > [noun] > signalling devices to guide aircraft > one who uses
batsman1943
bats1948
c1901 G. W. Peck Peck's Red-Headed Boy 82 They all thought a crazy man with bats in his belfry had got loose.
1907 A. Bierce in Cosmopolitan July 335/2 He was especially charmed with the phrase ‘bats in his belfry’, and would indubitably substitute it for ‘possessed of a devil’, the Scriptural diagnosis of insanity.
1911 R. D. Saunders Col. Todhunter ix. 123 It's a case of bats in his belfry on that one subject.
1919 F. Hurst Humoresque viii. 314 ‘Are you bats?’ she said.
1927 A. E. W. Mason No Other Tiger xix. 197 ‘On this sort of expedition!’ Phyllis Harmer exclaimed, looking at Strickland as if he was a natural. ‘Dear man, you've got bats in the belfry.’
1927 Chambers's Jrnl. 740/2 Have you taken the ‘bats’ or what?
1928 Blackwood's Mag. Jan. 17/2 The sahib had bats in his belfry, and must be humoured.
1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart ii. vi. 285 You're completely bats.
1948 Daily Express 8 Oct. 2/5 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty..was written by James Thurber, whose bats viewpoint on life can be summed up by a story about him.
c. Slang phr. (to go) like a bat out of hell, (to go) very quickly.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > swiftly [phrase] > very swiftly
as swift (also quick, fleet) as thought?c1225
like lightning1567
(as) quick as lightning1580
like wildfire1699
like stour1787
(as) quick as a wink1825
like smoke1832
quick as a streak1839
like sixty1848
(as) quick as thought1871
at a great lick1898
like a bat out of hell1921
like the clappers1948
like a bomb1954
1921 J. Dos Passos Three Soldiers (1922) ii. ii. 67 We went like a bat out of hell along a good state road.
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 19 To go like a bat out of hell, to go at extreme high speed (Air Force).
1939 I. Baird Waste Heritage iv. 52 When it started to move I hared off an' picked out my car an' beat it like a bat out of hell.
1961 I. Fleming Thunderball viii. 87 The motor cyclist..had gone like a bat out of hell towards Baker Street.
Compounds
C1.
bat-flight n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > night > [noun]
nighteOE
nightertalec1300
darkc1400
nightertimec1425
night-timec1430
night-tidea1500
night-season1530
darkmans?1536
Nox1567
moonshine1652
darkie?1738
the watches of the night1826
nite1928
bat-flight1934
1934 T. S. Eliot Rock ii. 84 The twilight over stagnant pools at batflight.
bat-flying n.
bat-flying time n. dusk.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > day and night > day or daytime > evening > [noun] > twilight, dusk, or nightfall
nighteOE
evengloamOE
eveningOE
gloamingc1000
darknessa1382
twilighting1387
crepusculum1398
crepusculec1400
darkc1400
twilight1412
sky1515
twinlightc1532
day-going?1552
cockshut1592
shutting1598
blind man's holiday1599
candle-lighting1605
gropsing1606
nightfall1612
dusk1622
torchlighta1656
candlelight1663
crepuscle1665
shut1667
mock-shade1669
close1696
duskish1696
glooma1699
setting1699
dimmit1746
to-fall of the day or night1748
darklins1767
even-close1781
mirkning1790
gloaming-shot1793
darkening1814
bat-flying time1818
gloama1821
between-light1821
settle1822
dayfall1823
evenfall1825
onfall1825
owl-hoot1832
glooming1842
darkfall1884
smokefall1936
dusk-light1937
1818 W. Scott Heart of Mid-Lothian v, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 114 I hae sat on the grave frae bat-fleeing time till cock-crow.
C2.
bat-light n. poetic darkness or gloom.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > darkness or gloom > [noun]
thicknessc1000
dusknessa1382
umbraclec1500
duskishness1541
sadness1601
duskiness1611
gloominess1611
opacity1611
gloom1645
shadowinessa1672
dusk1700
brown1729
gloaming1832
bat-light1871
dreich1928
1871 G. M. Hopkins Let. 2 Aug. (1935) 27 I live in bat-light and shoot at a venture.
1946 C. Fry Firstborn 10 I was out before daybreak. It's a good marksman who hunts by batlight.
bat-shell n. a species of volute.
bat-tick n. an insect parasitical on bats.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > order Diptera or flies > [noun] > suborder Cyclorrhapha > group Pupipara or Nymphipara > member of family Nycteribiidae
bat-tick1852
1852 T. W. Harris Treat. Insects New Eng. (ed. 2) 501 A remarkable group of insects, which seems to connect the flies with the true ticks and spiders. Such are sheep-ticks and bat-ticks.
C3.
bat-blind adj. blind as a bat in the sunlight.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [adjective] > blind
star-blindeOE
bissonc950
blind-bornc975
blindc1000
darkOE
purblinda1325
sightlessa1325
start blinda1387
stark blinda1425
stone-blindc1480
beetle-blind1556
beetle1566
eyeless?1570
purblinded1572
high-gravel-blind1600
not-seeing?1602
kind-blind1608
bat-blind1609
unseeing1609
blindful1621
winking-eyed1621
lamplessa1625
deocular1632
lightless1638
bat-eyed1656
stock-blind1675
duncha1692
gazelessa1819
visionlessa1821
blind-eyed1887
stone-eyed1890
unsighted1983
1609 J. Davies Holy Roode sig. D1v O Bat-blind Fooles doe ye infatuate That Wisdome?
1836 M. Scott Cruise of Midge xxiv. 445 If you are not bat-blind, it will evince to you, that, [etc.].
bat-eared adj. having ears like those of a bat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > head and neck > [adjective] > having ears > having ears like bat
bat-eared1903
1903 Daily Chron. 25 May 5/2 Several of the bat-eared French bull-dogs.
bat-eyed adj. having bat's eyes.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of eye > disordered vision > [adjective] > blind
star-blindeOE
bissonc950
blind-bornc975
blindc1000
darkOE
purblinda1325
sightlessa1325
start blinda1387
stark blinda1425
stone-blindc1480
beetle-blind1556
beetle1566
eyeless?1570
purblinded1572
high-gravel-blind1600
not-seeing?1602
kind-blind1608
bat-blind1609
unseeing1609
blindful1621
winking-eyed1621
lamplessa1625
deocular1632
lightless1638
bat-eyed1656
stock-blind1675
duncha1692
gazelessa1819
visionlessa1821
blind-eyed1887
stone-eyed1890
unsighted1983
1656 R. Sanderson 20 Serm. 167 One to be cat-eyed outward..: another, to be bat-eyed inward, in not perceiving..a beam in a mans own eye.
1927 Glasgow Herald 24 Oct. 10 A recumbent area of, say, six feet in diameter would be sufficient for the most bat-eyed foozler.
1927 E. Wallace Feathered Serpent xviii. 226 I'd had a couple of drinks that night, and naturally I was a bit bat-eyed.
bat-like adj. like a bat, or like that of a bat, also adv. after the manner of a bat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Chiroptera or bat > [adjective]
batty1600
battish1704
bat-likea1711
cheiropteran1835
vespertilian1874
the world > animals > mammals > order Chiroptera or bat > [adverb]
bat-likea1711
a1711 T. Ken Edmund in Wks. (1721) II. iv. 90 His Bat-like Wings he to full stretch expands.
1787 ‘P. Pindar’ Lousiad: Canto II 7 in Lousiad: Canto I (ed. 4) Conscience..That, bat-like, winks by day and wakes by night.
1858 E. H. Sears Athanasia ii. xii. 249 Bat-like fallacies.
1878 B. Taylor Prince Deukalion i. iv. 34 Bat-like cries, thin, impotent of sound.
bat-minded adj. mentally blind.
bat-mindedness n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > imperfect perception > [noun]
thesterc897
blindness971
obscurationa1550
twilight1610
ablepsy1616
obcaecationa1631
mind-blindness1649
blear-eyedness1653
short-sightedness1670
blearedness1678
crassitude1679
myopia1801
purblindness1834
bat-mindedness1869
myopism1880
short sighta1888
1869 Echo 23 Jan. There is enough..bat-mindedness in the world to give Rome a fair chance.
bats-wing adj. (also bat's-wing) = bat-wing adj.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > other specific shapes > [adjective] > like a wing
alary1658
aliform1698
alate1743
alar1791
bats-wing1838
alated1879
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > face round eyes and nose > [noun]
bats-wing1838
1838 Penny Cycl. XI. 88/2 The burners are of many different forms... The batswing is a thin sheet of gas produced by its passing through a fine saw-cut in a hollow globe.
1846 C. Holtzapffel Turning & Mech. Manip. II. 753 The gas-burners designated as bat's-wing burners have a narrow slit through which the gas issues: these are cut..by thin circular saws.
1869 Daily News 18 June The common batswing burner..is of about the same illuminating power as the fishtails.
1872 Young Englishwoman Oct. 547/1 The batswing skirt is made in all colours... The best is seamless; the second..in seams..[is] cheaper than the seamless batswing.
1904 Daily Chron. 23 Aug. 8/1 In the red straw hat there are batswing bows.
1908 Practitioner Jan. 22 The bat's-wing area of the face.
bat-wing adj. shaped like the wing of a bat, applied spec. to a laterally spreading flame from a gas-jet, and the burner producing it; also applied to that part of the human face which surrounds the eyes and nose, and to a long sleeve having a deep armhole and fitting closely at the cuff (Webster, 1934).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [adjective] > other
poted1609
bombastical1650
slash1799
raglan1858
jetted1866
bretelle1890
ruched1896
pouched1897
flapless1916
plunged1941
bat-wing1959
scoopy1970
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [adjective] > sleeve
wing-fashion1547
pocketing1614
raglan1858
poufed1874
manche1876
pouf1906
bat-wing1961
1823 Local & Pers. Acts I. 128 Any Light or Lights, or Argand, Cockspur, Batwing or any other Kind of Burner.
1872 H. Macmillan True Vine vii. 296 The leaves of the bat-wing passion-flower.
1959 Guardian 28 Aug. 3/5 The new Balenciaga coat has very wide batwing armholes.
1961 Harper's Bazaar June 22/2 Loosely-fitting top with batwing sleeves.
bat-winged adj. having bat's wings; also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > order Chiroptera or bat > [adjective] > of body or parts of
leathern1513
interfemoral1828
volar1840
bat-winged1847
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > body and limbs > [adjective] > relating to limbs > relating to wings or fins > having wings or fins > bat-winged
bat-winged1847
1847 Ld. Lindsay Sketches Hist. Christian Art I. 84 The triple-headed, bat-winged, horned and hoofed monster of the later middle ages.
1911 C. R. L. Fletcher & R. Kipling School Hist. Eng. i. 9 I remember the bat-winged lizard birds.
1923 D. H. Lawrence Birds, Beasts & Flowers (N.Y. ed.) 65 Bat-winged heart of man.
Draft additions March 2004
colloquial and depreciative.
a. A prostitute, esp. one who walks the streets at night; a promiscuous woman. Now U.S. regional.In early use usually as part of an extended metaphor.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > prostitution > [noun] > a prostitute
meretrixOE
whoreOE
soiled dovea1250
common womanc1330
putec1384
bordel womanc1405
putaina1425
brothelc1450
harlot?a1475
public womanc1510
naughty pack?1529
draba1533
cat1535
strange woman1535
stew1552
causey-paikera1555
putanie?1566
drivelling1570
twigger1573
punka1575
hackney1579
customer1583
commodity1591
streetwalker1591
traffic1591
trug1591
hackster1592
polecat1593
stale1593
mermaid1595
medlar1597
occupant1598
Paphian1598
Winchester goose1598
pagan1600
hell-moth1602
aunt1604
moll1604
prostitution1605
community1606
miss1606
night-worm1606
bat1607
croshabell1607
prostitute1607
pug1607
venturer1607
nag1608
curtal1611
jumbler1611
land-frigate1611
walk-street1611
doll-common1612
turn-up1612
barber's chaira1616
commonera1616
public commonera1616
trader1615
venturea1616
stewpot1616
tweak1617
carry-knave1623
prostibule1623
fling-dusta1625
mar-taila1625
night-shadea1625
waistcoateera1625
night trader1630
coolera1632
meretrician1631
painted ladya1637
treadle1638
buttock1641
night-walker1648
mob?1650
lady (also girl, etc.) of the game1651
lady of pleasure1652
trugmullion1654
fallen woman1659
girlc1662
high-flyer1663
fireship1665
quaedama1670
small girl1671
visor-mask1672
vizard-mask1672
bulker1673
marmalade-madam1674
town miss1675
town woman1675
lady of the night1677
mawks1677
fling-stink1679
Whetstone whore1684
man-leech1687
nocturnal1693
hack1699
strum1699
fille de joie1705
market-dame1706
screw1725
girl of (the) town1733
Cytherean1751
street girl1764
monnisher1765
lady of easy virtue1766
woman (also lady) of the town1766
kennel-nymph1771
chicken1782
stargazer1785
loose fish1809
receiver general1811
Cyprian1819
mollya1822
dolly-mop1834
hooker1845
charver1846
tail1846
horse-breaker1861
professional1862
flagger1865
cocodette1867
cocotte1867
queen's woman1871
common prostitute1875
joro1884
geisha1887
horizontal1888
flossy1893
moth1896
girl of the pavement1900
pross1902
prossie1902
pusher1902
split-arse mechanic1903
broad1914
shawl1922
bum1923
quiff1923
hustler1924
lady of the evening1924
prostie1926
working girl1928
prostisciutto1930
maggie1932
brass1934
brass nail1934
mud kicker1934
scupper1935
model1936
poule de luxe1937
pro1937
chromo1941
Tom1941
pan-pan1949
twopenny upright1958
scrubber1959
slack1959
yum-yum girl1960
Suzie Wong1962
mattress1964
jamette1965
ho1966
sex worker1971
pavement princess1976
parlour girl1979
crack whore1990
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [noun] > sexual indulgence > promiscuity > person > woman
bat1607
tramp1922
bag1924
poule1924
blimp1926
punch board1955
slag1958
slagbag1966
hosebag1974
mama1980
slutbag1987
Essex girl1991
knob jockey2003
1607 T. Dekker & G. Wilkins Paradox in Praise of Sergiants in Iests to make you Merie 58 Synnes, that in the shapes of Bats, Skreech-owles, and such other ominous mid night-walkers, wasted the bawdy night in shameles and godlesse Reuilings.
1732 Gentleman's Mag. Aug. 907 They're bats, who chase their Twilight Prey.
1811 Lexicon Balatronicum Bat, a low whore: so called from moving out like bats in the dusk of the evening.
1859 G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 100 You lie, you bat. I couple with no cove but my own.
1900 Dial. Notes 2 22 Bat, a loose woman.
1927 Amer. Speech 2 348/1 Bat, an old.., a woman of ill fame. ‘I wouldn't be running around with that old bat.’
1934 B. Appel Brain Guy xix. 260 He ought to be glad someone, even a little bat like Madge, cared for him.
1966 S. Harris Hellhole (1967) 161 Molly still designates..[criminals] by the names with which she first learned to identify them:..‘bats’ or ‘owls’—streetwalkers who work at night.
2001 J. O'Brien At Home in Heart of Appalachia xiii. 234 Prostitutes—‘bats’ in local speech—met them at the depot by the company store.
b. [Originally after French vieille chauve-souris (1835 in the passage translated in quot. 1886); in later use perhaps influenced by battle-axe n. 4.] A disagreeable or foolish woman or girl (occasionally also used affectionately). Usually with modifying adjective, esp. in old bat.
ΚΠ
1886 K. P. Wormeley tr. H. de Balzac Père Goriot v. 63 That old bat of a woman [Fr. cette vieille chauve-souris] makes me shiver.
1906 H. Green At Actors' Boarding House 81 She's an old bat, ain't she?
1961 F. Brown Murderers ii. 27 Mrs. Whelan..came up to ask us to knock off a few decibels,..and stayed for a glass of wine; she's a nice tolerant old bat.
1977 J. Rosenthal Bar Mitzvah Boy & Other Television Plays 157 I couldn't help myself, you daft bat!
1996 M. Syal Anita & Me (1997) ix. 234 ‘I'm not allowed. Not on me own.’ ‘You won't be on your own, will you, soft bat.’
Draft additions September 2013
bat box n. an insulated box designed for bats to roost in.
ΚΠ
1970 D. G. Constantine in W. A. Wimsatt Biol. of Bats II. vii. 402 Noting that ‘bat boxes’ were..unsuitable for hibernation.., he [sc. Krzanowski] recommended introduction of..migratory American bats [to Poland]..because these species hang in foliage.
1974 S. A. Manning Naturalist in S.-E. Eng. 41 Somewhat similar in design to a standard bird-box, the ‘bat box’ has its entrance..at the back and saw cuts are placed around the inside to give the bats footholds from which to hang.
1982 Washington Post (Nexis) 14 Sept. (Final ed.) b5 ‘Bats are probably the best insecticide around,’ says Wray, whose program includes encouraging people to put up ‘bat boxes’.
2005 Daily Tel. 20 July 2/6 Eighteen bat boxes, each containing about six bats, were ripped down from conifer trees and left destroyed on the ground.
Draft additions December 2005
bat fly n. a member of either of the dipteran families Nycteribiidae and Streblidae, which comprise minute, blood-sucking, spider-like flies that are ectoparasites of bats.
ΚΠ
1835 E. Newman Gram. Entomol. 197 (heading) Bat-flies (Nycteribiites).
1934 Jrnl. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 7 63 They were extremely heavily infested with external parasites of other kinds (fleas, mites and ticks), yet only by way of exception were they infested with bat-flies.
1993 Entomol. News 104 43 Eight species of bat flies (Insecta: Diptera: Streblidae and Nycteribiidae) collected from bats from Jordan, Libya and Algeria are listed.
Draft additions September 2015
bat ray n. an eagle ray (family Myliobatidae), esp. Myliobatis californica of the Pacific coast of North America, which has a long whiplike tail with a stinging spine at its base.
ΚΠ
1887 Jrnl. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 2 25 The rest of this family [sc. Myliobatidæ] are more or less hideous and monstrous, but the palm belongs to the Bat-ray, or Devil-fish (Dicerobati eregoodoo), called in Maratha ‘Piwri’.
1950 Copeia No. 3. 166 He stepped on a bat-ray and received a deep wound on the plantar surface of his right foot.
1991 G. Ehrlich Islands, Universe, Home viii. 144 On summer evenings like this one, schools of bat rays mate.
2007 Monterey County (Calif.) Herald (Nexis) 23 Mar. The Monterey Bay Habitats exhibit, where visitors can..dip their arms into pools to touch bat rays.
Draft additions September 2015
bat stingray n. = bat ray n. at Additions.
ΚΠ
1931 L. A. Walford Handbk. Common Commerc. & Game Fishes Calif. 13 If..there is a single dorsal fin in front of the sting, and the teeth are large, flat and paved, the fish is a Bat Sting Ray (Aëtobatus californicus).
1961 E. S. Herald Living Fishes of World 59/2 In San Francisco Bay the bat stingray, Myliobatis californicus, forms only about 5 per cent of the total elasmobranch population.
2003 S. M. Walker Rays 21/1 Bat stingrays flap their pectoral fins as they swim along the bottom.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
batn.2
/bat/, U.S. /bæt/ I. A stick or stout piece of wood.† 2. ? A balk of timber. batt's end apparently = mast-head. Obsolete or dialect.
1. A stick, a club, a staff for support and defence. (In 1387 applied to a crosier.) archaic.‘Still dial. (Kent, Sussex, etc.) = staff, walking-stick.’ ( N.E.D.)
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > club or stick > [noun]
sowelc893
treec893
cudgelc897
stinga900
bat?c1225
sticka1275
clubc1275
truncheon14..
bourdonc1325
bastona1400
warderera1400
plantc1400
kibble1411
playloomc1440
hurlbatc1450
ploykc1450
rung1491
libberlac1500
waster1533
batonc1550
macana1555
libbet1562
bastinado1574
crab-tree comb1593
tomahawkc1612
billeta1616
wiper1622
batoon1637
gibbeta1640
crab-bat1647
kibbo1688
Indian club1694
batterdasher1696
crab-stick1703
bloodwipea1705
bludgeon1730
kierie1731
oaken towel1739
crab1740
shillelagh1772
knobstick1783
pogamogganc1788
whirlbat1791
nulla-nulla1798
waddy1800
kevel1807
supple1815
mere1820
hurlet1825
knobkerrie1826
blackthorn1829
bastera1833
twig1842
leangle1845
alpeen1847
banger1849
billy1856
thwack-stave1857
clump1868
cosh1869
nulla1878
sap1899
waddy1899
blunt instrument1923
society > faith > artefacts > implement (general) > staff > [noun] > bishop's
staffa1122
bat?c1225
bagle1330
crosec1330
potent1348
crookc1386
croche14..
cley-staffc1440
baculc1449
cross-staffa1464
pastoral staff?a1475
crosier's staff1488
crosier1500
crose-staff1549
pastoral1658
beagle-rod1664
tau staff1843
tau1855
tau crosier1900
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > something to lean on > staff to lean on > walking stick
staffc725
yardc1000
bat?c1225
rodc1300
handstaffa1425
walking staffc1450
sceptre1526
walking stick1580
stick1620
nibbie1812
baton1860
waddy1974
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 270 Us forto burȝen from þe deofles botte.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) l. 10775 Þa botten [c1300 Otho battes] heo up heouen.
c1300 K. Alis. 78 And made heom fyghte with battes.
c1320 Syr Bevis 391 He nemeth is bat and forth a goth.
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. Rolls Ser. 381 Forto swere vppon eny of þilke belles and gold battes.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 26 Batte, staffe, fustis.
c1440 Gesta Romanorum 179 As to a thef ye come oute, with swerdes & battes to take me.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) II. f. clxxxviv This was clepyd of the comon people the Parlyament of Battes..for Proclamacyons were made yt men shulde leue theyr Swerdes &..The people toke great battes & stauys.
1555 W. Waterman tr. Josephus in tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions sig. X.ij Let there bee giuen vnto hym by the commune Sergeaunt of the batte .xxxix. stripes with a waster.
1591 E. Spenser Prosopopoia in Complaints 217 A handsome bat he held, On which he leaned.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Coriolanus (1623) i. i. 159 Make you ready your stiffe bats and clubs. View more context for this quotation
1655 W. Gouge & T. Gouge Learned Comm. Hebrewes (xi. 35) iii. 213 Τύμπανον..signifieth a bat, or a staff.
1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther iii. 108 He headed all the rabble of a town, And finish'd 'em with bats.
1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel II. x. 234 I have given up..my bat for a sword.
1875 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. III. xviii. 103 Called..the parliament of bats or bludgeons.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > roughly squared beam
beam978
balka1400
needle1428
joist1487
sill1488
rafter1553
timbera1575
bat1577
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > spar > [noun] > mast > upper part of mast
masthead1495
batt's end1577
pole1799
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry i. f. 42 Though the Corne be laide vpon Battes in the floores.
a1618 W. Raleigh Observ. Royal Navy (1650) 4 Necessaries belonging to shipping, even from the Batts end to the very Kilson of a Ship.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. vi. 211 Neat Timber, a fift part (which is sufficient in such large batts,)..allow'd for the wast of rind, chipps, &c.
3.
a. The wooden implement with rounded handle and flattened blade used to strike or ‘bat’ the ball in cricket. (The most common modern sense.)
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > equipment > [noun] > bat
cricket-staff?1575
cricket bat1622
bat1706
willow1846
willow weapon1850
driver1883
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) Bat..a kind of Club to strike a Ball with, at the Play call'd Cricket. [So in Bailey 1731, etc.]
1744 ‘J. Love’ Cricket i. 3 He weighs the well-turned Bat's experienc'd Force.
1783 G. Crabbe Village i. 22 The bat, the wicket, were his labours all.
1850 ‘Bat’ Cricketer's Man. (rev. ed.) 100 Pilch scored sixty-one, and brought out his bat.
b. short for batter n.3, batsman n. 1a.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > cricketer > [noun] > batsman
batsman1744
bat1756
batter1773
willow-wielder1870
1756 Connoisseur No. 132. 796 His greatest excellence is cricket-playing, in which he is reckoned as good a bat as either of the Bennets.
1859 All Year Round 23 July 306 McJug..one of our best bats, went to the wicket first.
c. Hence the phrase, off his own bat, in reference to the score made by a player's own hits; figurative solely by his own exertions, by himself. Also †bat's end, a local term for ‘point’ (see point n.1 26a.) (Obsolete); with the bat, in batting; as a batter; from or off the bat: of runs scored from actual hits (opp. ‘extras’); to carry one's bat: see to carry out 1c at carry v. Phrasal verbs.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > [noun] > running > score made by player's own hits
off his own bat1742
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > fielding > [noun] > fielding position > specific
bat's end1742
midwicket1744
middle wicket1772
long-stop1773
long field?1801
third man1801
point1816
slip1816
backstop1819
cover1836
long field on1837
short stopc1837
long on1843
middle-on1843
short leg1843
cover-point1846
square leg1849
long off1854
mid-off1865
leg slip1869
mid-on1870
cover-slip1891
box1911
gully1920
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > [adverb]
with the bat1832
in front of the sticks1924
society > society and the community > social relations > lack of social communication or relations > solitude or solitariness > [adverb] > acting or working alone
off his own bat1845
single-handedly1882
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > [adverb] > scored from the bat
from or off the bat1862
1742 London Evening-post 4 Sept. The Betts on the Slendon Man's Head that he got 40 Notches off his own Bat were lost.
1786 County Mag. Nov. 171 These two things then you next must do, Place one at middle wick't, at batt's end two.
1832 P. Egan Bk. Sports 345/2 Pilch..showed great capabilities, both in the field and with the bat.
1845 S. Smith Fragm. Irish Rom. Catholic Church in Wks. II. 340/1 He had no revenues but what he got off his own bat.
1859 All Year Round 23 July 305 One of our adversaries scored 70 off his own bat.
1862 Baily's Monthly Mag. Aug. 83 Out of the 204 runs scored from the bat by Oxford, 90..were contributed by Mr. Mitchell.
1863 Frederick Lillywhite's Cricket Scores & Biogr. Cricketers III. 97 Hodgson got more runs in his one innings than Rochdale did in their twenty-two innings off the bat.
1865 Fraser's Mag. Nov. 667 It is a mistake..to suppose that Lord Palmerston did everything off his own bat after 1834.
1887 F. Gale Game of Cricket iv. 45 Seventy years ago..He played as substitute for an absent mate, and was placed as ‘bat's-end’, as point was always called.
1939 T. S. Eliot Old Possum's Bk. Pract. Cats 30 All his Inventions are off his own bat.
d. In baseball, the implement used to strike the ball or the act of using it; esp, in phrases at bat, hot (or right) off the bat, to (the) bat; also figurative. North American.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > equipment
willow1846
baseball1853
bat1856
baseball bat1858
base bag1863
baseball glove1884
apple1902
rabbit ball1907
joystick1908
1856 Spirit of Times (N.Y.) 6 Dec. 229/1 The bat or club [used in baseball] is of hickory or ash, about 3 feet long, tapering..and round.
1868 Iowa State Reporter (Des Moines) 21 Oct. 2/4 The penny was flipped to see who should go first to the bat.
1875 Chicago Tribune 18 Aug. 5/6 The fine play of the home nine..both in the field and at the bat.
1881 Sun-beam (Terre-Haute, Indiana) June 5/1 Picking up a base~ball bat.
1884 B. Nye Baled Hay 52 Common decency ought to govern conversation without its being necessary to hire an umpire to announce who is at bat.
1888 Outing May 118/2 Ferguson..sent the Cincinnatis to the bat.
1888 ‘M. Twain’ Meisterschaft 459 Whoever may ask us a Meisterschaft question shall get a Meisterschaft answer—and hot from the bat!
1889 ‘M. Twain’ Connecticut Yankee vii. 89 Step to the bat, it's your innings.
1904 Chicago Evening Post 23 Aug. 2 The Democrats, of course, claim they were first at bat.
1910 W. M. Raine Bucky O'Connor 65 Turn loose your yarn at me hot off the bat.
1914 Maclean's Feb. 135/2 Get one that chums-up with your spirit right off the bat, natural like.
1955 New Yorker 21 May 76/3 You can tell right off the bat that they're wicked, because they keep eating grapes indolently.
e. In the game of two-up (see quot. 1945).
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > games of chance > two up, etc. > [noun] > board
kip1898
bat1917
kiley1945
1917 Chrons. N.Z.E.F. 16 May 137/2 The big brown paw that held the ‘bat’ Was trembling like a leaf.
1945 S. J. Baker Austral. Lang. ix. 176 The small piece of board upon which the two pennies are rested for spinning is called the kip, stick, bat or kiley.
f. Usually in plural, the objects resembling table-tennis bats used to guide aircraft landing (e.g. on a ship's deck). Hence used colloquially as a name for one who signals with these bats; = batsman n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > air or space travel > airfield or airport > [noun] > signalling devices to guide aircraft
bats1938
bat1943
1943 Fleet Air Arm (Min. of Information) v. 32 (caption) The Deck-Landing Control Officer guides the Seafire pilot in with his ‘bats’.
1943 T. Horsley Find, Fix & Strike v. 45 The control officer ‘bats’, which are now fitted with small electric bulbs, are clearly seen against the background of ‘glim’ lights.
1943 T. Horsley Find, Fix & Strike x. 80 (caption) The ‘Bats’ Officer, in charge of the landing, is about to give the pilot the signal to cut his engine.
1948 E. Partridge et al. Dict. Forces' Slang 12 Bats, the Ward-room name for the Deck Landing Officer on an aircraft carrier.
4. The ‘sword of wood’ or light lath wand of Harlequin in pantomimes. [Directly from French ‘batte, sabre de bois d'arlequin’ (Littré).]
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > drama > pantomime > [noun] > role or character > accessory
bat1859
1859 Illustr. London News 8 Jan. Harlequin's wonder-working bat.
Categories »
5. dialect (Kent, etc.): The wooden handle or stick of an implement, e.g. of a scythe.
Categories »
6. dialect (Herefordshire etc.): A wooden implement for breaking clods of earth. [So French batte.]
II. A lump, a piece of certain substances; a mass, dull-sounding, or formed by beating.† 7. A lump, piece, bit. Obsolete in general sense.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > a separate part > a piece or bit
stitchc825
piecec1230
nookc1300
crotc1330
gobbetc1330
batc1340
lipe1377
gobbona1387
bladc1527
goblet1530
slice1548
limb1577
speild1653
swatch1697
frustum1721
nib1877
c1340 Alexander (Stev.) 4166 Quare flaggis of the fell snawe · fell fra þe heuen..a-brade..as battis ere of wolle.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. xix. 92 Þe of heuene..bad hit be [of] a bat of erþe · a man and a mayde.
8.
a. esp. A piece of a brick having one end entire.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > piece of brick
bat1519
brick-end1527
1519 W. Horman Vulgaria xxix. f. 240v Batt [es] and great rubbrysshe..to fyl vp in the myddell of the wall.
?1677 S. Primatt City & Covntry Purchaser & Builder 50 Let him get his foundation cleared, and his Bricks and Bats laid up.
1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 23 Lay a three quarter Bat at the Quine in the stretching course. [See brickbat n.]
b. Pottery. (a) = stilt n. 4f; (b) a piece of unfired clay (see quot. 18252).
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > pottery manufacturing equipment > [noun] > for supporting during firing
plancha1544
parting shard1686
bat1825
stilt1825
spur1833
setter1853
slug1880
thimble1901
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > clay > [noun] > for making pottery > piece of
bat1825
twig1889
wad1891
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 273 Pieces of clay, called stilts, pins, bats [etc.] are put to keep them apart.
1825 ‘J. Nicholson’ Operative Mechanic 466 The piece is then laid on a flat surface of board, or plaster, and the workman with a heavy lump of clay, with a level under-surface, adapted for holding in the hand, beats the clay to the thinness the vessel is intended to form. These pieces of clay are technically called bats.
1961 M. Jones Potbank viii. 30 A tool..comes down to press the lump out into a..pancake. The maker puts the clay—now called a bat—in the mould.
9. A kind of sun-dried brick.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > clay compositions > baked clay > brick > [noun] > brick made in specific way
semi-brick1601
place brick1621
clinker1659
rubbed brick1663
rubber1744
marl1812
bat1816
burr1823
wire-cut brick1839
place1843
wire-cut1910
rug brick1914
texture brick1940
1816 R. Southey in Q. Rev. 15 214 Preparing bats,—a sort of bricks made of clay and straw, well beaten together, 18 inches long, 12 wide, 4 deep, not burnt, but dried in the sun.
10. A brick-shaped peat.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > fuel > other organic fuels > [noun] > turf or peat
turfc1300
peat1333
turbaryc1450
turf1510
moor-coal1562
peat moss1775
bear's-muck1784
vag1796
breast-peat1802
gathering-peat1825
sod1825
bat1846
flight1847
mump1887
1846 J. Clarke in Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 7 ii. 517 The dried ‘peat bats,’ or brick-shaped turf, used for fuel.
11. Shale interstratified between seams of coal, iron-ore, etc. Cf. bass n.4
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > features of stratum or vein > [noun] > material between
bat1686
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > sedimentary rock > [noun] > shale > others
till1672
bass1686
bat1686
blue metal1699
scallop slate1711
black shale1730
shale-shiver1794
shale1825
till-stonec1830
Wenlock shale1834
famp1836
Boghead1858
oil shale1866
paper shale1874
symon1881
paste-rock1882
slasto1953
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. iii. 132 Substances call'd partings..of consistence between an earth and a coal, or soft bat.
1712 F. Bellers in Philos. Trans. 1710–12 (Royal Soc.) 27 543 Those Substances, which divide the Strata of Coals and Iron Oars from each other, are called Bats by the Miners.
1839 R. I. Murchison Silurian Syst. i. xxxv. 474 Black ‘bat,’ a dull, compact, bituminous shale, which sounds under the hammer like wood.
12. A felted mass of fur, or of hair and wool in hat-making: often spelt batt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > treated or processed textiles > [noun] > material for making hats
capade1797
stuff1799
chip straw1806
bat1836
napping1839
1836 Scenes Commerce 195 The whole mass..is called a batt; a second batt is added to it; and by dint of pressure..the two batts become one.
1837 N. Whittock et al. Compl. Bk. Trades (1842) 294 A batt is quantity sufficient for making half the thickness of one hat.
1875 R. Hunt & F. W. Rudler Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 7) II. 784 The bat or capade thus formed is rendered compact by pressing it down with the hardening skin.
13. A sheet of cotton wadding used for filling quilts; batting.
III. A stroke.
14.
a. A firm blow as with a staff or club. Cf. bat v.1
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > manner of playing ball
bata1400
back-swing1577
banding1589
stroke1662
stop1773
swipe1788
hit1810
straik1820
screwing1825
return1833
volleying1837
return stroke1838
volley1851
swiper1853
shot1868
handling1870
screw kick1870
mishit1882
smash1882
misfield1886
fumble1895
run-up1897
mishitting1900
balloon1904
carryback1905
placement1909
tonk1922
trick shot1924
retrieve1952
sizzler1960
undercut1960
shotmaking1969
a1400 Cov. Myst. 296 That xal be asayd be this batte, What thou, Ihesus? ho ȝaff the that?
1535 W. Stewart tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 432 Sum gat ane bat that breissit all thair bonis.
1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. Aij The souldyer that doth deale the battes And makes his foes to flye.
1674 P. Whalley Relig. Established 22 To have a Batt at the Pope with the Butt end of a Dominican.
1864 J. C. Atkinson Whitby Gloss. at Bat ‘It gets more bats than bites,’ said of the dog that gets more blows than food.
b. A movement of the eyelids (see bat v.2 2).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [noun] > movements of eye > winking or blinking
prinkOE
twinklinga1300
blenching1393
twink14..
blenking?a1505
twinking1519
twinkle1548
connivance1596
winka1616
nictation1623
shailing1653
nictitation1794
blinking1871
blink1924
bat1932
saccade1953
1932 E. Caldwell Tobacco Road iv. 41 Almost as quickly as the bat of an eye.
1941 ‘M. Home’ Place of Little Birds ii. 21 He didn't show by the bat of an eyelid that you were a friend.
1948 C. Fry Thor with Angels 7 We were at the boy in the bat of an eye.
15. dialect and slang. Beat, rate of stroke or speed, pace; in Scottish dialect rate, manner, style.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > [noun]
speedc1175
passa1393
pace?a1439
strake1558
rate1652
velocity1656
rapidity1701
rake1768
bat1824
clip1868
tempo1898
work rate1906
pacing1958
1824 W. Carr Horæ Momenta Cravenæ 49 There com by me, at a feaful girt bat, a par o'shay and four.
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Bat, condition; as, ‘about the auld bat’, Roxb., in an ordinary state.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. (at cited word) They do go at a strange bat on them railroads.
1880 Daily Tel. 11 Mar. Going off at a lively bat of 34..the boat travelled at a good pace.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms I. xxi. 293 We could hear a horse coming along at a pretty good bat.
1888 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms II. xvi. 247 A cove comes tearing up full batt.
1949 ‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar xv. 138 [The horse] took Felix under an oak, going an awful bat.
1961 ‘J. Welcome’ Beware of Midnight ii. 20 We turned on to the main..road and started going a hell of a bat across the Cotswolds.
Compounds
Also bat-fowl v., bat-fowler n., bat-fowling n. See also cricket bat willow n. at cricket bat n. Compounds 2.
bat-ball n. a ball to be struck with a bat.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > [noun] > ball > types of
footballa1425
handballc1440
match ball1849
knur1852
bat-ball1876
racquetball1973
1876 R. W. Emerson Ess. 1st Ser. x. 241 Moons are no more bounds to spiritual power than bat-balls.
batboy n. Baseball a youth employed to look after the bats and other equipment of a baseball team.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > equipment > specific person employed to look after equipment
batboy1914
1914 N.Y. Tribune 5 Oct. 10/1 Everybody connected with the Boston team, from Jim Gaffney, president and chief owner, down to the bat boy, has been pulling in the same direction.
1976 National Observer (U.S.) 12 June 14/1 Still several weeks shy of 22, Randolph looks more like a bat boy than a big-deal Yankee.
batman n. one who carries a bludgeon, a clubman.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warrior > armed man > [noun] > club or stick
cudgeller1580
club-man1597
billeter1643
clubster1727
polemana1750
bludgeon-man1797
bludgeonist1811
batman1833
bludgeoner1842
clubber1887
1833 Extracts as to Administ. Poor Laws 26 The batmen, so called from the provincial term of bat, for a bludgeon which they use.
bat-willow n. a species of willow from which cricket bats are made.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > willow and allies > [noun] > other types of willow
red willow1547
water willow1583
goat's willow1597
rose willow1597
sweet willow1597
French willow1601
siler1607
palm-withy1609
sallowie1610
swallowtail willow1626
willow bay1650
black willow1670
crack-willow1670
grey willow1697
water sallow1761
almond willowa1763
swallow-tailed willow1764
swamp willow1765
golden osier1772
golden willow1772
purple willow1773
sand-willow1786
goat willow1787
purple osier1797
whipcord1812
Arctic willow1818
sage-willow1846
pussy willow1851
Kilmarnock willow1854
sweet-bay willow1857
pussy1858
palm willow1869
Spaniard1871
ground-willow1875
Spanish willow1875
snap-willow1880
diamond willow1884
sandbar willow1884
pussy palm1886
creeping willow1894
bat-willow1907
cricket bat willow1907
silver willow1914
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plants cultivated or valued for their many uses > [noun] > trees or shrubs having many uses > willow
willowa750
withy961
osierc1175
withenc1230
withec1340
yolster1387
willow-treec1425
osier tree1500
wailea1510
wrig1564
spert1578
seal1579
siler1607
palm-withy1609
sallow withe1657
gelster1670
wilger1682
osier willow1693
werg1707
weeping willow1731
sollar1733
salix1775
red osier1807
mourning willow1813
palm willow1869
fen-oak1886
bat-willow1907
cricket bat willow1907
sedge-willow1908
1907 Bull. Misc. Information (Royal Bot. Gardens, Kew) No. 8. 311 The supplies of the best ‘Bat Willow’ have become seriously limited.
1910 Westm. Gaz. 6 Apr. 4/2 The fast growing bat-willow..a first-cross between two common varieties of willow..appeared in Norfolk about 1700. It is still chiefly obtained from East Anglia.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
batbâtn.3
/bat/, /bɑː/, /bɑːt/, U.S. /bæt/ 1. A pack-saddle. Only in combinations, as bat-needle n. a packing-needle (obsolete). bât-horse n. (French cheval de bât) a sumpter-beast, a horse which carries the baggage of military officers, during a campaign; as bât-mule n. See also batman n.2
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > other specific types of equipment > [noun] > packing, stuffing, or filling equipment > packing-needle
pack-needle1327
bat-needle1578
packing needle1597
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > [noun] > hybrid horse and ass > mule > used for specific purpose
sumpter mule1579
bât-mule1787
pack mule1834
post-mule1835
pole mule1862
lead-mule1877
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > horse defined by purpose used for > [noun] > pack-horse
summer?a1300
bottle-horsea1414
mail horse1440
sumpter horsec1450
sommier1481
packhorse?a1500
carriage horse1500
sumpter1526
sumpture1567
load-horse1568
loader1600
baggage-horse1640
led horse1662
portmanteau-gelding1694
portmanteau-horse1770
pack pony1850
bât-horse1863
pack1866
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. vii. 218 To brochen hem with a batte-nelde · and bond hem to-gederes.
1578 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories Archdeaconry Richmond (1853) 279 Batt nedles, ij s.
1787 T. Jefferson Writings (1859) II. 137 Putting my baggage into portable form for my bat-mule.
1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea II. 144 It was found necessary to dispense with the bât horses of the army.
1879 Pall Mall Budg. 17 Oct. 20 A new pack-saddle for bat mules or horses has been invented by an officer of the French military train.
2. In bat-money: An allowance for carrying baggage in the field. Sometimes confused with batta n.1
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military organization > [noun] > pay-allowances
allocation1658
field allowance1744
bat-money1793
proficiency pay1906
1793 W. Pitt in G. Rose Diaries (1860) I. 127 He shall have directions about the bât and forage money.
1808 Duke of Wellington Dispatches (1837) IV. 82 I should make an issue of bât and forage money to the Officers.
1813 R. Wilson Private Diary II. 279 Lord Castlereagh also notes that my income will be suitably augmented by a bât and forage allowance.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
batn.4
slang (originally U.S.).
A spree or binge.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > thirst > excess in drinking > [noun] > drinking-bout
cups1406
drinking?1518
banquet1535
Bacchanal1536
pot-revel1577
compotation1593
rouse1604
Bacchanalia1633
potmealc1639
bout1670
drinking-bout1673
carouse1690
carousal1765
drunk1779
bouse1786
toot1790
set-to1808
spree1811
fuddlea1813
screed1815
bust1834
lush1841
bender1846
bat1848
buster1848
burst1849
soak1851
binge1854
bumming1860
bust-out1861
bum1863
booze1864
drink1865
ran-tan1866
cupping1868
crawl1877
hellbender1877
break-away1885
periodical1886
jag1894
booze-up1897
slopping-up1899
souse1903
pub crawl1915
blind1917
beer-up1919
periodic1920
scoot1924
brannigan1927
rumba1934
boozeroo1943
sesh1943
session1943
piss-up1950
pink-eye1958
binge drinking1964
1848 F. A. Durivage Stray Subj. 102 Zenas had been on ‘a bat’ during the night previous.
1869 W. T. Washburn Fair Harvard 69 I went to a ‘bat’ in S.'s room, and we smoked and drank till three.
1891 Harper's Mag. Oct. 778/1 He had been on a bat, and all on earth that ailed him was that spree.
1901 House Party 188 We defied the Head and went off on the meekest and stupidest little bat you ever saw.
1942 E. Waugh Put out More Flags iii. §4. 187 Why don't you switch to rum? It's much better for you... When did you start on this bat?
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online December 2020).
batn.5
/bat/, U.S. /bæt/ the bat: the colloquial speech of a foreign country; chiefly in to sling the bat.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > a language > [noun] > a foreign language
foreign language1555
uplandish1586
Welsh1598
outlandisha1626
lingo1659
second language1875
the bat1887
target language1965
foreign1971
1887 R. Kipling Three Musketeers in Civil & Mil. Gaz. 11 Mar. 3/1 T' sahib doesn't speak 't bart an' he's a little mon.
1889 R. Kipling Barrack-room Ballads (1892) 67 An' 'ow they would admire for to hear us sling the bat.
1919 Athenæum 18 July 632/1 Native words picked up by the soldier in India who learned ‘to sling the bat’ (‘bat’ itself being another native word for ‘the language’).
1919 War Terms in Athenæum 8 Aug. 729/1 A variant for ‘sling the bat’ (speak the lingo) is ‘spin the bat’.
1924 Glasgow Herald 14 Apr. 10 He continued eagerly..‘that in the bat of the Arab “Shmallock” and “Amenak” mean “left” and “right”.’
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
batv.1
/bat/, U.S. /bæt/ 1. transitive. To strike with, or as with, a bat; to cudgel, thrash, beat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > beating or repeated striking > beat [verb (transitive)]
abeatOE
beatc1000
dingc1300
dintc1300
bulka1400
batc1440
hampera1529
pommel1530
lump1546
pummel1548
bebatter1567
filch1567
peal-pelt1582
reverberate1599
vapulate1603
over-labour1632
polt1652
bepat1676
flog1801
quilt1822
meller1862
tund1885
massage1924
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 26 Battyn, or betyn wyth stavys [v.r. battis], fustigo, baculo.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Civ/2 To Batte, beate, fustigare, tundere.
1606 P. Holland tr. Suetonius Hist. Twelve Caesars 116 Mariners, who with their sprits, poles, and oares..beate and batt their carkasses.
1859 J. M. Jephson & L. Reeve Narr. Walking Tour Brittany 49 Women vehemently batting heaps of wet linen at the lavatories.
2.
a. To strike or hit a ball with a bat, so as to drive it away, esp. in Cricket. Also absol. and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > batting > bat [verb (transitive)]
bat1745
1745 London Evening-post 8 Aug. The Girls bowled, batted, ran, and catch'd..as well as most Men could do in that Game.
1773 Gentleman's Mag. 43 451 To bat and bowl with might and main.
1859 W. Barnes Rhymes Dorset Dial. II. 14 Well here..'S a ball for you if you can bat it.
1884 Manch. Examiner 16 May 5 The Notts team was batting all day against Sussex.
1959 Observer 18 Jan. 19/2 The healer, who went in to bat last, was lured into the last ditch of philosophical idealism.
1961 Listener 2 Nov. 737/3 Two contributors, finally, bat for Christianity.
b. to bat on a sticky wicket: see sticky adj.2 2b(b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > fastening > fasten [verb (transitive)] > by beating
bat1793
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §302 By batting them closely to the stone underneath, by the gentle blows of a small hammer.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §302 The leaden cap..that I had carefully batted to the stone.
4. To go or move; to wander, to potter. Usually with adverbial complement, along, around, away, etc. Chiefly dialect and U.S.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > [verb (intransitive)]
nimeOE
becomec885
teec888
goeOE
i-goc900
lithec900
wendeOE
i-farec950
yongc950
to wend one's streetOE
fare971
i-wende971
shakeOE
winda1000
meteOE
wendOE
strikec1175
seekc1200
wevec1200
drawa1225
stira1225
glidea1275
kenc1275
movec1275
teemc1275
tightc1275
till1297
chevec1300
strake13..
travelc1300
choosec1320
to choose one's gatea1325
journeyc1330
reachc1330
repairc1330
wisec1330
cairc1340
covera1375
dressa1375
passa1375
tenda1375
puta1382
proceedc1392
doa1400
fanda1400
haunta1400
snya1400
take?a1400
thrilla1400
trace?a1400
trinea1400
fangc1400
to make (also have) resortc1425
to make one's repair (to)c1425
resort1429
ayrec1440
havea1450
speer?c1450
rokec1475
wina1500
hent1508
persevere?1521
pursuec1540
rechec1540
yede1563
bing1567
march1568
to go one's ways1581
groyl1582
yode1587
sally1590
track1590
way1596
frame1609
trickle1629
recur1654
wag1684
fadge1694
haul1802
hike1809
to get around1849
riddle1856
bat1867
biff1923
truck1925
society > travel > aspects of travel > travel from place to place > [verb (intransitive)] > with no fixed aim or wander
wharvec890
woreOE
wandera1000
rengec1230
wagc1325
roamc1330
errc1374
raikc1390
ravec1390
rumblec1400
rollc1405
railc1425
roit1440
waverc1440
rangea1450
rove1481
to-waver1487
vaguea1525
evague1533
rangle1567
to go a-strayinga1586
vagary1598
divagate1599
obambulate1614
vagitate1614
ramble1615
divage1623
pererrate1623
squander1630
peramble1632
rink1710
ratch1801
browse1803
vagrate1807
bum1857
piroot1858
scamander1864
truck1864
bat1867
vagrant1886
float1901
vagulate1918
pissant1945
1867 B. Brierley Daisy Nook Sketches 231 Heaw they staret when they seed Billy battin away across a fielt.
1907 W. D. Howells Let. 3 Oct. in Mark Twain—Howells Lett. (1960) II. 826 [She] was in England..batting round with two other girls, and having a great time.
1926 S.P.E. Tract (Soc. for Pure Eng.) No. XXIV. 119 Bat round, have a good time, go from place to place (in quest of pleasure). ‘We've been batting round all evening.’
1929 E. L. Rice Street Scene (1930) 1 I want 'em [sc. the kids] home, instead o' battin' around the streets.
1938 Reader's Digest Mar. 13/2 A Department Sanitation truck was batting along as fast as it could go.
1959 Encounter Aug. 30/2 So I batted along, and I tried to make conversation with the kiddo.
1959 I. Opie & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolchildren x. 192 Expressions inviting a person's departure..bat off, beat it, [etc.].
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
batv.2
1. intransitive. To bate or flutter as a hawk.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > flight > [verb (intransitive)] > flap or flutter
fluttera1000
flickerc1000
bate1398
fanc1400
flackerc1400
abatea1475
flack1567
bat1614
beata1616
flusker1660
flop1692
flap1776
flick1853
1614 S. Latham Falconry Explan. Wordes sig. ¶ Batting, or to batte is when a Hawk fluttereth with her wings either from the pearch or the mans fist, stryuing as it were to flie away.
2. transitive (originally dialect and in U.S.) to bat the eyes: to move the eyelids quickly, to wink. Also frequently in colloquial phrase (normally in negative form), not to bat an eye, eyelid, etc. (a) not to sleep a wink; (b) to betray no emotion (originally U.S.). Also intransitive.In quot. 1950 the phrase means contextually ‘I didn't open my eyes (i.e. I slept heavily)’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > eye > [verb (intransitive)] > move eyes > wink or blink
twinklea1300
prinkc1330
winka1400
twinkc1400
wapper1575
pimper1600
twire1601
hoodwink1641
connive1712
nictate1755
bat1838
blink1858
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > state of being awake > be or remain awake [verb (intransitive)] > be wakeful or sleepless
(not) to sleep a or one wink1303
to close an eye1580
vigilate1774
not to bat an eye, eyelid1889
the mind > emotion > calmness > self-possession or self-control > maintain self-control [verb (intransitive)]
to keep one's countenance1470
to get above ——1603
to keep one's head1717
keep your shirt on1844
to keep one's hair on1883
to keep one's wool1890
not to bat an eye, eyelid1904
to keep one's pants on1928
to play it cool1955
to keep (also blow, lose) one's cool1964
1838 W. Holloway Gen. Dict. Provincialisms 9/1 Bat, to wink..Derby.
1846 J. J. Hooper Some Adventures Simon Suggs xii. 143 I didn't say nuthin, but jist batted my eye at old Chamblin.
1847–78 J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words Bat, to wink. Derbysh.
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. Bat, to wink, or rather to move the eyelids up and down quickly.
1883 American 6 237 To bat the eyes, meaning to wink, when we desire to express the rapidity of the action.
1883 J. Harris in Cent. Mag. May 146 You hol' your head high; don't you bat your eyes to please none of 'em.
1889 ‘C. E. Craddock’ Despot Broomsedge Cove xii. 208 If my patient can't sleep, not a soul in the house shall bat an eye all night.
1904 Sun (N.Y.) 7 Aug. 1 The Judge would say: ‘That's interesting..I hadn't heard of it.’ But, as they say out West, ‘he wouldn't bat an eye’.
1910 ‘O. Henry’ Whirligigs viii. 113 I've stood by you without batting an eye in earthquakes, fire and flood.
1930 Eng. Jrnl. 19 607 We do want the facts, and we are willing to look them straight in the eye without batting a lash.
1950 J. Cannan Murder Included vi. 109 I was tired..and I never batted an eyelid until Beatrice brought in my breakfast.
1959 News Chron. 14 July 4/6 [Japan] slipped from..past to..present without, you might say, batting an eyelid.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
<
n.1a1300n.2?c1225
n.31393
n.41848n.51887v.1c1440v.21614