bat
part of speech
noun (a bat, bats); verb (bat, bats, batted, batting)
meaning for a pupil
1) A bat is a small flying animal with wings of skin that comes out at night. tree →
2) A bat is also a stick or club for hitting the ball in games like cricket, baseball and rounders. tree →
3) To bat means to take a turn at hitting the ball. tree →
4) «Not bat an eye» means to not show any surprise. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science, bats are mammals, not birds; most eat insects or fruit, and many find their way with echoes (echolocation). Bats are protected in many places; never touch a bat, because it can carry disease. In sports, you bat in cricket and baseball; the batter or batsman holds the bat. Phrases: cricket bat, baseball bat, at bat, right off the bat, blind as a bat.
examples
- A bat flew out of the cave at dusk. tree →
- Bats hang upside down when they sleep. tree →
- Bats find insects in the dark using echoes. tree →
- He hit the ball hard with the cricket bat. tree →
- It's your turn to bat! tree →
- She batted first for her team. tree →
- Never pick up a bat; tell an adult. tree →
- Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly. tree →
note
Same spelling, two meanings: the animal and the stick. Double the t: batted, batting. Myth: bats are not blind; most see quite well. «Blind as a bat» is just a saying.
In the corpora
- Bats are not blind; all bats can see, and many see quite well.
- Big fruit bats called flying foxes have large eyes for dim light, and most of them do not echolocate at all.
- Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly, and about one in five of all mammal kinds is a bat.
- In China bats have long been a sign of good luck, because the word for bat sounds like the word for good fortune.
- In some caves dwarf crocodiles have turned orange, possibly from living among bat droppings.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «bat» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.