subs. (old).—1. A prostitute: cf. FLY-BY-NIGHT: Fr. hirondelle de nuit: see TART. For full lists of synonyms, see BARRACK-HACK.
1612. SYLVESTER, Lacrymæ Lacrymarum, 101. BATS, Harpies, Syrens, Centaurs, Bib-all-nights.
[?]. Old Ballad, ‘Long Live the King,’ 52, s.v.
2. (American).—A spree: a frolic; a drunken bout: see BATTER.
1889. Bird o’ Freedom, 7 Aug., 1. Mr. Pote: If she had been bitten by the kind of BAT you went on when I was away last Saturday week, she would probably have died of delirium tremens.
3. (athletic).—Pace; speed (in walking, rowing, etc.); rate; manner; style: e.g., ‘going off at a lively BAT.’
1880. Daily Telegraph, 11 March. Going off at a lively BAT of 34 … the boat travelled at a good pace.
1887. Daily News, 18 August, 6, 3. Here they come, a mixed flock of birds full BAT overhead.
TO BAT ONE’S EYES, phr. (American and dialectical in England).—1. To wink; toblink; a Southwestern term.
1846. The Overland Monthly, 79. The Texans stood by and laughed to see him knock off his hat and BAT HIS EYES at every twitch, to avoid cutting them out.
1883. J. C. HARRIS, At Teague Poteet’s [The Century Magazine, May, 146]. You hol’ your head high; don’t you BAT YOUR EYES to please none of ’em.
2. (American gaming).—To look on; watch: of a bystander not playing.
TO BAT ONE ON THE HEAD, verb. phr. (American).—To strike one on the head.
OFF or ON ONE’S OWN BAT, phr. (popular).—By oneself; through one’s own exertions; unaided: a figurative usage of a cricketing term.
1845. SYDNEY SMITH, A Fragment on the Irish Roman Catholic Church, wks. II., 340, 1. He had no revenues but what he got OFF HIS OWN BAT.
1855. LORD LONSDALE [Croker Papers (1884), vol. III., 325]. Derby … would not make a ministry from his own friends or HIS OWN BAT.
1880. HAWLEY SMART, Social Sinners, xxiii. ‘You have a weakness for the great world? Good. Score OFF YOUR OWN BAT, and it is the great world comes to you.’
1884. The Saturday Review, 8 March, 308. 2. He has in the most workmanlike manner, and OFF HIS OWN BAT, lost for the Government an important seat by a crushing majority.
1899. R. WHITEING, No. 5 John Street, xxvi. I mean to do this bit OFF MY OWN BAT.
TO CARRY OUT ONE’S BAT, phr. (popular).—To carry through an undertaking; to outlast all opponents; to secure the result aimed at.
1874. M. and F. COLLINS, Frances, xxviii. The General defended his stumps as he would have defended a fortress, and CARRIED HIS BAT OUT with a score of a hundred and seven.
