off the bat

noun

1. any stout club, stick, or cudgel
2. a club used to strike the ball in baseball and cricket
3. a ping-pong paddle, squash racket, etc.
4. ☆ a turn at batting, as in baseball
   see also at-bat
5. Brit. a batsman at cricket
6. cotton batting, esp. of an inferior quality; batt
7. the whip used by a jockey
8. Informal a blow or hit
9. ☆ Slang a drinking bout; spree
10. Brit., Informal fast pace; speed
11. Ceramics a plaster disk on which the clay is based in modeling

Origin: ME < OE batt, cudgel (prob. < Welsh bat < IE base *bhat-, to strike) & < OFr batte, pestle < battre, batter

transitive verb batted, batting

1. to strike with or as with a bat
2. to have a batting average of

intransitive verb

1. to use a bat: to bat left-handed
2. to take a turn at batting: to bat third in the lineup