batlike

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word batlike. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word batlike, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say batlike in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word batlike you have here. The definition of the word batlike will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofbatlike, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

From bat +‎ -like.

Adjective

batlike (comparative more batlike, superlative most batlike)

  1. Having characteristics similar to those of a bat, usually used with reference to the flying mammal.
    • 1838, William Gifford et al., The Quarterly Review, page 113:
      […] they cling, like creepers or women, to the nearest support, to fly from that corroding ennui and listlessness, those tumults of the mind, which flit batlike amid the golden-groined ceilings, and cannot be dispelled by the lictor guard.
    • 1916 December 29, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC:
      He had told himself bitterly as he walked through the streets that she was a figure of the womanhood of her country, a batlike soul waking to the consciousness of itself in darkness and secrecy and loneliness.
    • 1953, L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between:
      There was a trap somewhere, I felt sure; and though I didn't know the term "hush-money," its meaning flittered, bat-like, about my mind.
    • 1981, James B. Twitchell, The Living Dead: A Study of the Vampire in Romantic Literature, page 29:
      The most famous of these Los Caprichos is “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” (plate 43), which has a sky full of batlike creatures.
  2. Similar to that of a bat.
    • 1912, Charles B. Hayward, Dirigible Balloons, page 1:
      His sketches show the details of batlike wings which were to spread out on the downward stroke and fold up with the upward stroke.
    • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
      What was it? They could not tell themselves. They only knew that the black shadows at the top of the staircase had thickened, had coalesced, had taken a definite, batlike shape.
    • 2006, Les Beletsky, Birds of the World, page 180:
      The Oilbird is one of the few bird species to use batlike echolocation to help navigate the night and cave darkness.

Synonyms

Anagrams

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia