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 WebMichael Huntley, Orange County Register, 5 Apr. 2024
Ragans walked two batters but, reliever James McArthur extinguished the threat.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 4 Apr. 2024
Souza's shot came five batters after Arkansas State third baseman Daedrick Cail threw wildly to first on Will Edmunson's roller, which was ruled an infield single.
—Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 3 Apr. 2024
But the legend of his career doesn’t always match the reality
The first batter of the game, Betts, hammered a fly ball to deep left-center field.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
Kelly did himself no favors by walking the leadoff batter and then plunking the next.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2024
The batter expands rapidly and will overflow from the mixing bowl, leaving your counter a mess.
—Jessica Furniss, Southern Living, 30 Mar. 2024
While whisking continuously, slowly add milk mixture into flour mixture, a little at a time, until batter is smooth and free of lumps.
—Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 27 Mar. 2024
Mya McGowan Poway Softball The junior pitcher threw three complete games, two of them shutouts, while fanning 19 batters.
—Steve Brand, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Mar. 2024
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
Once the deadly virus arrived and began to batter the lodging and travel industries worldwide, the hotel project’s prospects deteriorated.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
Joy, on the other hand, battered some curds up and loaded 'em in a fryer.
—Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2024
SeaWorld Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau is battered and drowned by a 12,000-pound orca called Tilikum before a live audience.
—Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024
Consumer Watchdog says both catastrophe modeling and reinsurance consideration in rate-making have worsened problems in Florida’s troubled homeowners insurance market, which has been battered by storm damage.
—Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
The resulting recession from 2007 to 2009 was the deepest since the Depression, and the stock market and housing markets were battered.
—The Arizona Republic, 26 Mar. 2024
The pay bump may be regarded as the first step in a long battle to improve the spirits of staff who have had their morale battered by poor Avanti service.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 25 Mar. 2024
Noun
Thirteen batters reached base for Santa Margarita (11-4-1) and 10 different hitters drove in runs.
—Michael Huntley, Orange County Register, 5 Apr. 2024
Ragans walked two batters but, reliever James McArthur extinguished the threat.
—Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 4 Apr. 2024
Souza's shot came five batters after Arkansas State third baseman Daedrick Cail threw wildly to first on Will Edmunson's roller, which was ruled an infield single.
—Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 3 Apr. 2024
But the legend of his career doesn’t always match the reality
The first batter of the game, Betts, hammered a fly ball to deep left-center field.
—Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 2 Apr. 2024
Kelly did himself no favors by walking the leadoff batter and then plunking the next.
—Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2024
The batter expands rapidly and will overflow from the mixing bowl, leaving your counter a mess.
—Jessica Furniss, Southern Living, 30 Mar. 2024
While whisking continuously, slowly add milk mixture into flour mixture, a little at a time, until batter is smooth and free of lumps.
—Sabrina Weiss, Peoplemag, 27 Mar. 2024
Mya McGowan Poway Softball The junior pitcher threw three complete games, two of them shutouts, while fanning 19 batters.
—Steve Brand, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Mar. 2024
Verb
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
Once the deadly virus arrived and began to batter the lodging and travel industries worldwide, the hotel project’s prospects deteriorated.
—George Avalos, The Mercury News, 4 Apr. 2024
Joy, on the other hand, battered some curds up and loaded 'em in a fryer.
—Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 4 Apr. 2024
SeaWorld Orlando trainer Dawn Brancheau is battered and drowned by a 12,000-pound orca called Tilikum before a live audience.
—Lori Weisberg, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Apr. 2024
Consumer Watchdog says both catastrophe modeling and reinsurance consideration in rate-making have worsened problems in Florida’s troubled homeowners insurance market, which has been battered by storm damage.
—Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2024
The resulting recession from 2007 to 2009 was the deepest since the Depression, and the stock market and housing markets were battered.
—The Arizona Republic, 26 Mar. 2024
The pay bump may be regarded as the first step in a long battle to improve the spirits of staff who have had their morale battered by poor Avanti service.
—Ryan Hogg, Fortune Europe, 25 Mar. 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 19 Apr. 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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