Idioms for bat
Origin of bat
1
1175–1225; (noun) Middle English
bat, bot, batte, Old English
batt, perhaps < Celtic; compare Irish, Scots Gaelic
bat, bata staff, cudgel; (v.) Middle English
batten, partly from the noun, partly < Old French
batre; see
batter1
Words nearby bat
bastogne,
bastrop,
basuto,
basutoland,
basw,
bat,
bat an eye,
bat around,
bat boy,
bat chayil,
bat girl
British Dictionary definitions for right off the bat (1 of 3)
bat
1
/ (bæt) /
noun
verb bats, batting or batted
(tr)
to strike with or as if with a bat
(intr) sport
(of a player or a team) to take a turn at batting
See also
bat around
Word Origin for bat
Old English
batt club, probably of Celtic origin; compare Gaelic
bat, Russian
bat
British Dictionary definitions for right off the bat (2 of 3)
bat
2
/ (bæt) /
noun
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)
Related adjective: chiropteran
slang
an irritating or eccentric woman (esp in the phrase old bat)
blind as a bat
having extremely poor eyesight
have bats in the belfry or have bats in one's belfry informal
to be mad or eccentric; have strange ideas
like a bat out of hell slang
very quickly
Derived forms of bat
batlike, adjectiveWord Origin for bat
C14
bakke, probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Old Norse
ledhrblaka leather-flapper, Swedish dialect
natt-batta night bat
British Dictionary definitions for right off the bat (3 of 3)
bat
3
/ (bæt) /
verb bats, batting or batted (tr)
to wink or flutter (one's eyelids)
not bat an eye or not bat an eyelid informal
to show no surprise or concern
Word Origin for bat
C17: probably a variant of
bate ²
Idioms and Phrases with right off the bat (1 of 2)
right off the bat
Instantly, immediately, as in I can't tell you how many right off the bat, but I can find out. This term alludes to a baseball being hit by a bat. [First half of 1900s]
Idioms and Phrases with right off the bat (2 of 2)
bat