battered; battering; batters
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
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
Sharon Begley2
: 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
1
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
Erica Goode1
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)
battered; battering; batters
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
: a receding upward slope of the outer face of a wall or other structure
battered; battering; batters
: to give a receding upward slope to (something, such as a wall)
: 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 WebJesse 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
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
There were notable job number declines in February in construction, due partly to the storms that battered parts of the state this winter, according to EDD.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 4 Apr. 2024
Fried Green Tomatoes: battered tomato slices layered with pimento cheese for dipping sauces.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Apr. 2024
Cortes was battered for three runs in the first inning and surrendered a solo home run in the second, then settled down and threw three scoreless frames before getting the hook.
—Daniel R. Epstein, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
It’s been battered by a global slowdown in EV demand, growing competition in China and production problems in Germany.
—Vernal Galpotthawela, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2024
Leisure and hospitality, battered during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovering only recently, added 40,800 jobs year to year and in February employed 2.03 million people.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 4 Apr. 2024
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
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
There were notable job number declines in February in construction, due partly to the storms that battered parts of the state this winter, according to EDD.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 4 Apr. 2024
Fried Green Tomatoes: battered tomato slices layered with pimento cheese for dipping sauces.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Apr. 2024
Cortes was battered for three runs in the first inning and surrendered a solo home run in the second, then settled down and threw three scoreless frames before getting the hook.
—Daniel R. Epstein, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
It’s been battered by a global slowdown in EV demand, growing competition in China and production problems in Germany.
—Vernal Galpotthawela, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2024
Leisure and hospitality, battered during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovering only recently, added 40,800 jobs year to year and in February employed 2.03 million people.
—David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 4 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'batter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Batter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/batter. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationKids 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)
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