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Bat

1. A large stick; a club; specifically, a piece of wood with one end thicker or broader than the other, used in playing baseball, cricket, etc.

2. (Science: chemical) shale or bituminous shale.

3. A sheet of cotton used for filling quilts or comfortables; batting.

4. A part of a brick with one whole end.

(Science: machinery) bat bolt, a bolt barbed or jagged at its butt or tang to make it hold the more firmly.

Origin: oe. Batte, botte, as. Batt; perhaps fr. The Celtic; cf. Ir. Bat, bata, stick, staff; but cf. Also f. Batte a beater (thing), wooden sword, battre to beat.

(Science: zoology) One of the Cheiroptera, an order of flying mammals, in which the wings are formed by a membrane stretched between the elongated fingers, legs, and tail. The common bats are small and insectivorous. See Cheiroptera and vampire.

(Science: zoology) bat tick, a wingless, dipterous insect of the genus Nycteribia, parasitic on bats.

Origin: Corrupt. From oe. Back, backe, balke; cf. Dan. Aften-bakke]/> (aften evening), Sw. Natt-backa]/> (natt night), Icel. Ler-blaka]/> (ler leather), Icel. Blaka to flutter.