1. [n]  a turn batting (in baseball); "he was at bat when it happened"; "he got 4 hits in 4 at-bats"
2. [n]  nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation by which they navigate
3. [n]  a club used for hitting a ball in various games
4. [n]  a bat used in playing cricket
5. [n]  a small racket with a long handle used for playing squash
6. [v]  wink briefly; "bat one's eyelids"
7. [v]  beat thoroughly in a competition or fight; "We licked the other team on Sunday!"
8. [v]  strike with, or as if with a baseball bat; "bat the ball"
9. [v]  use a bat; "Who's batting?"
10. [v]  have a turn at bat; "Jones bats first, followed by Martinez"

1. \Bat\, n. [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.]
   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. (Mining) Shale or bituminous shale. --Kirwan.
   3. A sheet of cotton used for filling quilts or comfortables;
      batting.
   4. A part of a brick with one whole end.
   {Bat bolt} (Machinery), a bolt barbed or jagged at its butt
      or tang to make it hold the more firmly. --Knight.
   

2. \Bat\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Batted} (?); p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Batting}.]
   To strike or hit with a bat or a pole; to cudgel; to beat.
   --Holland.
   

3. \Bat\, v. i.
   To use a bat, as in a game of baseball.
   

4. \Bat\, n. [Corrupt. from OE. back, backe, balke; cf. Dan.
   aften-bakke (aften evening), Sw. natt-backa (natt night),
   Icel. le[eth]r-blaka (le[eth]r leather), Icel. blaka to
   flutter.] (Zo["o]l.)
   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}.
   {Bat tick} (Zo["o]l.), a wingless, dipterous insect of the
      genus {Nycteribia}, parasitic on bats.
   

5. \Bat\, n. [Siamese.]
   Same as {Tical}, n., 1.
   

6. \Bat\, v. t. & i.
   1. To bate or flutter, as a hawk. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.]
   2. To wink. [Local, U. S. & Prov Eng.]
   

7. \Bat\, n.
   1. In badminton, tennis, and similar games, a racket.
   2. A stroke; a sharp blow. [Colloq. or Slang]
   3. A stroke of work. [Scot. & Prov. Eng.]
   4. Rate of motion; speed. [Colloq.] ``A vast host of fowl . .
      . making at full bat for the North Sea.'' --Pall Mall Mag.
   5. A spree; a jollification. [Slang, U. S.]
   6. Manner; rate; condition; state of health. [Scot. & Prov.
      Eng.]
   

The Hebrew word (atalleph') so rendered (Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18) implies "flying in the dark." The bat is reckoned among the birds in the list of unclean animals. To cast idols to the "moles and to the bats" means to carry them into dark caverns or desolate places to which these animals resort (Isa. 2:20), i.e., to consign them to desolation or ruin.