have bats in one's belfry

Variant of bat

bat definition

bat (bat)

noun

  1. any stout club, stick, or cudgel
  2. a club used to strike the ball in baseball and cricket
  3. a ping-pong paddle, squash racket, etc.
  4. ☆ a turn at batting, as in baseball
    see also at-bat
  5. Brit. a batsman at cricket
  6. cotton batting, esp. of an inferior quality; batt
  7. the whip used by a jockey
  8. Informal a blow or hit
  9. Slang a drinking bout; spree
  10. Brit., Informal fast pace; speed
  11. Ceramics a plaster disk on which the clay is based in modeling

Etymology: ME < OE batt, cudgel (prob. < Welsh bat < IE base *bhat-, to strike) & < OFr batte, pestle < battre, batter

transitive verb batted bat′·ted, batting bat′·ting

  1. to strike with or as with a bat
  2. to have a batting average of

intransitive verb

  1. to use a bat to bat left-handed
  2. to take a turn at batting to bat third in the lineup
bat Idioms

at bat

Baseball taking a turn at batting

bat around

Slang
  1. to travel or roam about
  2. to consider or discuss (an idea, plan, etc.) freely and informally
  3. Baseball to have all the batters in the lineup come to bat in a single inning

bat out

Slang to create or compose quickly or hastily

go to bat for

Informal to intervene on behalf of; defend

(right) off the bat

Informal immediately

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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