batter

1 of 6

verb (1)

bat·​ter ˈba-tər 

battered; battering; batters

transitive verb

1

a

: to beat with successive blows so as to bruise, shatter, or demolish

battered down the door

women who have been battered by their husbands

b

: bombard

battering targets with artillery fire

battering the lawyer with questions

c

law : to commit battery against (someone) : to offensively touch or use force on (a person) without the person's consent

… was battered and cut badly enough to be hospitalized overnight.

—N. R. Kleinfield

… studies showing that a woman is at greatest risk of being battered, and even murdered, by her partner when he suspects her of sexual infidelity.

—Sharon Begley

2

: to subject to strong, overwhelming, or repeated attack

battered by forces of change

Their confidence was battered by a series of losses.

3

: to wear or damage by hard usage or blows

a battered old hat

intransitive verb

1

: to strike something heavily and repeatedly : beat, pound

flies battered against … the electric-light bulbs

—D. B. Chidsey

2

law : to commit battery against another : to offensively touch or use force on a person without the person's consent

… the personality characteristics and life histories that lead men to batter and kill.

—Erica Goode

batterer

ˈba-tər-ər 

noun

batter

2 of 6

noun (1)

1

a

: a mixture consisting chiefly of flour, egg, and milk or water and being thin enough to pour or drop from a spoon

thin pancake batter

b

: a mixture (as of flour and egg) used as a coating for food that is to be fried

dip the chicken in the batter

beer batter

2

: an instance of battering (see batter entry 1)

batter

3 of 6

verb (2)

battered; battering; batters

transitive verb

food : to coat with a mixture (as of flour and egg) for frying : to coat (food) with batter (see batter entry 2 sense 1b)

fish that has been battered and fried

batter

4 of 6

noun (2)

: a receding upward slope of the outer face of a wall or other structure

batter

5 of 6

verb (3)

battered; battering; batters

transitive verb

: to give a receding upward slope to (something, such as a wall)

batter

6 of 6

noun (3)

: one that strikes or hits a ball with a bat

especially : the player whose turn it is to bat

The pitcher walked the first batter.

Synonyms

Verb (1)

• bash
• baste
• bat
• beat
• belabor
• belt
• birch
• bludgeon
• buffet
• bung up
• club
• curry
• do
• drub
• fib [British]
• flog
• hammer
• hide
• lace
• lambaste
• lambast
• lash
• lather
• lick
• maul
• mess (up)
• paddle
• pelt
• pommel
• pound
• pummel
• punch out
• rough (up)
• slate
• slog
• switch
• tan
• thrash
• thresh
• thump
• tromp
• wallop
• whale
• whip
• whop
• whap
• whup
• work over

Examples of batter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

During pregame work, Hoover often has a batter next to Perez while receiving pitches. —Jesse Newell, Kansas City Star, 29 Apr. 2024

Crawford is accompanied on the pitching staff by another top-10 prospect, Hayden Birdsong, who has struck out 19 batters in 11⅓ innings, the highest K/9 rate (15.75) in the Eastern League (min. 6 IP), with a 2.38 ERA. —Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 26 Apr. 2024

Beck struck out eight batters in a row after Madison Howard led off Paschal’s half of the first inning with a pop out to first base. —Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 Apr. 2024

In the start before, the junior fanned 19 Valley Center batters in no-hitting the Jaguars. —John Maffei, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Apr. 2024

Using a ladle, scoop batter into skillet; working quickly, lift skillet from heat and swirl batter evenly across bottom surface and slightly up the edges. —Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 25 Apr. 2024

If a reliever comes in with the bases loaded and two out, gives up a triple and then strikes out the final batter, his ERA is 0.00 for the outing. —Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2024

After giving up that run on an Estrada RBI double in the second, Rogers retired 11 consecutive batters before giving up a pair of hits in the sixth. —Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 17 Apr. 2024

McKean made an error in the seventh inning, but struck out three batters in the frame to slam the door shut on the Hornets. —Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 2024

Verb

Badly battered at the start of the fighting, when the front lines skirted outlying districts, the city in northeastern Ukraine has in recent weeks come under the worst bombardment since those early days of war. —Laura King, Los Angeles Times, 26 Apr. 2024

Since Thursday, Guangdong has been battered by unusually heavy, sustained, and widespread rainfall, with powerful storms ushering in an earlier-than-normal start to the province’s annual flooding season in May and June. —Reuters, NBC News, 22 Apr. 2024

The swimmers were planning to compete in just a few months at the Summer Games in Tokyo, and China, battered by the pandemic, was to host the Winter Games the following year. —Tariq Panja, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2024

Instead of battering and frying the rellenos, discover similar flavors by layering a flour and egg batter right on top of the shrimp mixture and baking. —Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 18 Apr. 2024

Part of the reason for the February drop was the severe weather that battered parts of the state this winter. —David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 9 Apr. 2024

Winter storms battered the area, the damage worsened by a piping system installed by the military to try and preserve a fairy shrimp vernal pool on the cliff above, storm water gushing down pipes and onto the road. —Laylan Connelly, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Apr. 2024

The Whites reacted with their fists, leaving Rev. Murray, his brother and their father battered and bloody. —Elaine Woo, Washington Post, 7 Apr. 2024

Perpetrators beat victims and take food, even baby formula, leaving people battered and starving in the forest. —Julie Turkewitz Federico Rios, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

Middle English bateren, probably frequentative of batten to bat, from bat

Noun (1)

Middle English bater, probably from bateren

Verb (2)

verbal derivative of batter entry 2

Noun (2)

origin unknown

Verb (3)

verbal derivative of batter entry 4

Noun (3)

bat entry 2 + -er entry 2

First Known Use

Verb (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun (1)

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb (2)

1971, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1743, in the meaning defined above

Verb (3)

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun (3)

1773, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing batter

• batter down

Kids Definition

batter

1 of 3 verb

bat·​ter ˈbat-ər 

1

: to beat with repeated violent blows

batter down the door

2

: to wear down or injure by hard use

wore a battered old hat

batterer noun

batter

2 of 3 noun

: a thin mixture chiefly of flour and liquid beaten together

cake batter

batter

3 of 3 noun

: one that bats

especially : the baseball player at bat

Etymology

Verb

Middle English bateren "to beat"

Noun

Middle English bater "thin mixture," probably derived from batteren "to beat"

Noun

bat and -er (noun suffix)