\Bat"ter\ (b[a^]t"t[~e]r), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Battered}
(-t[~e]rd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Battering}.] [OE. bateren, OF.
batre, F. battre, fr. LL. battere, for L. batuere to strike,
beat; of unknown origin. Cf. {Abate}, {Bate} to abate.]
1. To beat with successive blows; to beat repeatedly and with
   violence, so as to bruise, shatter, or demolish; as, to
   batter a wall or rampart.
2. To wear or impair as if by beating or by hard usage.
   ``Each battered jade.'' --Pope.
3. (Metallurgy) To flatten (metal) by hammering, so as to
   compress it inwardly and spread it outwardly.

\Bat"ter\, n. [OE. batere, batire; cf. OF. bateure,
bature, a beating. See {Batter}, v. t.]
1. A semi-liquid mixture of several ingredients, as, flour,
   eggs, milk, etc., beaten together and used in cookery.
   --King.
2. Paste of clay or loam. --Holland.
3. (Printing) A bruise on the face of a plate or of type in
   the form.

\Bat"ter\, n.
A backward slope in the face of a wall or of a bank; receding
slope.
{Batter rule}, an instrument consisting of a rule or frame,
   and a plumb line, by which the batter or slope of a wall
   is regulated in building.

\Bat"ter\, v. i. (Arch.)
To slope gently backward.

\Bat"ter\, n.
One who wields a bat; a batsman.