batter definition

English batter definition

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbætɚ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈbætəɹ/, [ˈbæɾɚ]

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætɚ
• Homophone: badder (in accents with flapping)

Etymology 1

From Middle English bateren, from Old French batre (“to beat”).

Verb

batter (third-person singular simple present batters, present participle battering, simple past and past participle battered)

1. To hit or strike violently and repeatedly.

   The firemen battered down the door.

   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act IV, scene ii:

     The golden ſtature of their feathered bird
     That ſpreads her wings vpon the city wals,
     Shall not defend it from our battering ſhot.

   • 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, pages 56–57:

     The journey is worth an article in itself, but all I can give is a flavour of a railway which traverses a bleak but dramatic coastline that's regularly battered by the elements - especially around Parton, where the line is constantly threatened by the sea.

2. (cooking) To coat with batter (the food ingredient).

   I prefer it when they batter the cod with breadcrumbs.

3. (figurative) To defeat soundly; to thrash.

   Synonym: thrash

   Leeds United battered Charlton 7-0.

   • 2018 June 24, Sam Wallace, “Harry Kane scores hat-trick as England hit Panama for six to secure World Cup knock-out qualification”, in Telegraph (UK), retrieved 24 June 2018:

     There have been so many times when England were such a tactically flat, stressed-out bunch that they could squeeze the joy out of battering even the meekest opposition, so at times against Panama you had to rub your eyes at the general levels of fun being had.

4. (UK, slang, usually in the passive) To intoxicate.

   Synonym: intoxicate

   That cocktails will batter you!

   I was battered last night on our pub crawl.

5. (metalworking) To flatten (metal) by hammering, so as to compress it inwardly and spread it outwardly.
6. (UK, obsolete) To coat in a paste-like substance; to fasten with a paste-like glue.^[1]
   • 1826, Thomas Beveridge, A Practical Treatise on the Forms of Process...‎^[1]:

     the bible mentioned in the oath emitted this day , by Andrew Murison , as the book and bible from whence the printed leaves , battered on the B. L. Coy's notes , now challenged as forged , are alleged to be taken

Derived terms

• battered person syndrome
• battered sav
• battered woman syndrome
• batter up
• battering ram
• battering train

Translations

References

Etymology 2

From Middle English bature, from Old French bateure (“the action of beating”), from batre (“to beat”).

Noun

batter (countable and uncountable, plural batters)

1. (cooking, countable, uncountable) A beaten mixture of flour and liquid (usually egg and milk), used for baking (e.g. pancakes, cake, or Yorkshire pudding) or to coat food (e.g. fish) prior to frying.

   pancake batter

   To the dismay of his mother, the boy put his finger into the cake batter.

2. (countable, slang) A binge; a heavy drinking session.

   Synonyms: bender, binge

   When he went on a batter, he became very violent.

3. A paste of clay or loam.
   • 1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “(please specify |book=I to XXXVII)”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of C. Plinius Secundus. […], (please specify |tome=1 or 2), London: […] Adam Islip, published 1635, →OCLC:

     The batter or lome that goeth to the making of [bricks]

4. (countable, printing) A bruise on the face of a plate or of type in the form.
   • 1881, The Printing Times and Lithographer, page 251:

     In repairing batters at the edges of the plate, when the bevel has been torn away by the catches, &c., it is necessary to solder a piece of metal along the side.

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Unknown.

Verb

batter (third-person singular simple present batters, present participle battering, simple past and past participle battered)

1. (architecture) To slope (of walls, buildings etc.).

Noun

batter (plural batters)

1. An incline on the outer face of a built wall.

Derived terms

• batter rule

Translations

Etymology 4

bat +‎ -er (agent noun suffix).

Noun

batter (plural batters)

1. (baseball) The player attempting to hit the ball with a bat.

   Synonyms: hitter, batsman (rare)

   The first batter hit the ball into the corner for a double.

2. (cricket) A player of the batting side now on the field.
3. (cricket) The player now receiving strike; the striker.
4. (cricket) Any player selected for his or her team principally to bat, as opposed to a bowler.
   • 2015, Brendon McCullum, ESPNcricnfo‎^[2]:

     It's hard to put this on his shoulders while the guy is so young, but I firmly believe Kane could go down as New Zealand's greatest ever batter.

Synonyms

• (all cricket senses): batsman

Hypernyms

• (all cricket senses): cricketer

Hyponyms

• (all cricket senses): batsman, batswoman

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• Tarbet, tabret

Danish batter definition

Verb

batter

1. present of batte

Dutch batter definition

Verb

batter

1. inflection of batteren:
   1. first-person singular present indicative
   2. imperative

French batter definition

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.te/

• Audio

  (file)

Verb

batter

1. (sports) to bat

Conjugation

Italian batter definition

Verb

batter (apocopated)

1. Apocopic form of battere

Derived terms

• in un batter d'occhio

Luxembourgish batter definition

Etymology

From Old High German bittar, from Proto-West Germanic *bit(t)r, from Proto-Germanic *bitraz. Cognate with German bitter, English bitter, Dutch bitter, Icelandic bitur.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbater/, [ˈbɑ.tɐ]

Adjective

batter (masculine batteren, neuter battert, comparative méi batter, superlative am battersten)

1. bitter

Declension

See also

• (tastes) Geschmaach; batter, salzeg, sauer, séiss ^{(Category: lb:Taste)}

Romansch batter definition

Alternative forms

• batar (Sutsilvan)

Etymology

From Latin battere, from earlier battuere.

Verb

batter

1. (Rumantsch Grischun) To beat.

Derived terms

• batta-ovs
• battasenda

Scots batter definition

Noun

batter (uncountable)

1. A batter.
2. A glue; paste.