3 entries under this word
n. [A-S. băt, allied to beatan, to beat. Cf. Fr. batte, a beater (thing), a wooden sword, from battre, to beat, Pr. battre, It. battere, Lat. batuere, to beat; Ir. bat, bata, stick, staff.] 1. A heavy stick or club; a piece of wood with one end thicker or broader than the other, used in playing ball.
v. i. To manage a bat, or play with one. Mason.
n. [Corrupt. from O. Eng. back, backe, Scot. back; backie bird, Dan. aften-bakke (aften, evening), Sw. natt-backa (natt, night).] (Nat. Hist.) A class, or one of a class, of true quadrupeds or mammals having a kind of wings made by the extension of the fingers to support a membranous expansion which stretches from the side of the neck, by the toes, to the tail.
The smaller species have a skin like a mouse, which they much resemble but for their wings. The bats are called cheiropters; there are two groups; the first, Carnivorous, or Insectivorous, comprises the vampire and the common bats, including all the American; the second are the Frugivorous or fruit-eating, and belong to tropical Asia.
Bats, which have something of beasts and birds. Locke. Silent bats in drowsy clusters cling. Goldsmith.