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

Verb (1)

children battered the piñata until it broke open

planes battered the city for weeks

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Harvard-Westlake was trailing 1-0 entering the fourth inning, with all nine batters retired by Jude Favela. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2024

Two batters later, Kyle Schwarber stroked a two-run single. —Steve Gorten, Miami Herald, 11 May 2024

The left-hander struck out at least two batters in four of his six innings — including striking out the side in the second. —Lamond Pope, Chicago Tribune, 10 May 2024

Los Gatos sophomore Ethan Williams pitched a three-hitter, did not walk a batter, struck out six and induced 12 ground-ball outs to improve to 10-1 on the season with a 1.33 ERA. —Glenn Reeves, The Mercury News, 8 May 2024

Build your own frozen yogurt creation from flavors like chocolate, strawberry, butter pecan, cake batter and golden vanilla. —Alexandra Maloney, Charlotte Observer, 8 May 2024

The right-hander allowed five hits, didn’t walk a batter and lowered his ERA to 2.79. —Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 7 May 2024

Mix cake batter: Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, and stir until completely incorporated. —Micah A Leal, Southern Living, 3 May 2024

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

Verb

For instance, more people are moving into areas along the Front Range that frequently get battered by hail. —Judith Kohler, The Denver Post, 11 May 2024

Grabowski clearly drew on her own upbringing in Scituate, Mass. — another insular South Shore town battered by coastal erosion and flooding — in shaping her setting, though Nashquitten is more worn down at the heels. —Kristen Martin, NPR, 11 May 2024

Tuesday's foul weather comes a day after strong storms battered the Plains region on Monday, spinning up multiple tornadoes that killed at least one person, destroyed buildings and knocked out power to thousands of households. —Anthony Robledo, USA TODAY, 8 May 2024

Severe storms battered the Midwest on Tuesday, unleashing a curtain of heavy rain, gusty winds and tornadoes throughout the region a day after a deadly twister ripped through a small Oklahoma town and killed at least one person. —CBS News, 8 May 2024

The couple’s campers were battered but still stood. —Cameron Knight, The Enquirer, 8 May 2024

In the balance lie vital trade and military outposts, including Myawaddy in the southeast, the western Rakhine region where the powerful Arakan Army has battered the junta and pockets of other provinces along the border with China and Thailand. —Fox News, 7 May 2024

Two years ago a jury convicted a Miami-Dade Police Officer of lying on an arrest form and battering a young Black woman who called police after an older white male neighbor pointed a shotgun at her. —Charles Rabin, Miami Herald, 2 May 2024

Extreme weather that battered parts of the Midwest and caused death and destruction over the weekend turned to Texas overnight and will move into the lower Mississippi Valley on Monday, bringing the risk of storms and flash flooding. —Patrick Smith, NBC News, 29 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 bateren "to beat"

Noun

bat and -er (noun suffix)