[f. BAT sb.2; cf. also F. batt-re to beat.]
1. trans. To strike with, or as with, a bat; to cudgel, thrash, beat.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 26. Battyn, or betyn wyth stavys (v.r. battis), fustigo, baculo.
1570. Levins, Manip., /37. To batte, beate, fustigare, tundere.
1606. Holland, Sueton., 116. Mariners, who with their sprits, poles, and oares … beate and batt their carkasses.
1859. Reeve, Brittany, 49. Women vehemently batting heaps of wet linen at the lavatories.
2. To strike or hit a ball with a bat, so as to drive it away, esp. in Cricket. Also absol.
1773. Gentl. Mag., XLIII. 451. To bat and bowl with might and main.
1859. Barnes, Rhymes Dorset Dial., II. 14. Well here … ’S a ball for you if you can bat it.
1884. Manch. Exam., 16 May, 5. The Notts team was batting all day against Sussex.
† 3. To fasten by beating. Obs.
1793. Smeaton, Edystone L., § 302. By batting them closely to the stone underneath, by the gentle blows of a small hammer. Ibid. The leaden cap … that I had carefully batted to the stone.
