<HEAD><TITLE>DICTIONARY: bastard - bat boy</TITLE></HEAD>
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<A NAME="bastard">
<B>bastard, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a child whose parents are not legally married to each other; illegitimate child. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) anything inferior or not genuine, especially anything of bad or spurious origin. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Slang.) an especially unpleasant, disliked, and usually unscrupulous, person. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>born of parents who are not married to each other; <I>illegitimate.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) not genuine; inferior. <BR> <I>Ex. Such poems by such poets should remove misconceptions about light verse as a kind of bastard poetry (Atlantic).</I> (SYN) counterfeit, debased, adulterated, corrupt. <DD><B> 3. </B>irregular or unusual in shape, size, style, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. a bastard wheel.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>somewhat resembling, but not identical with (used in this sense especially in plant and animal names). <BR> <I>Ex. bastard mahogany.</I> adj. <B>bastardly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="bastard">
<B>Bastard, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (in South Africa) a mulatto; Griqua. </DL>
<A NAME="bastardfile">
<B>bastard file,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a file of a grade between smooth and rough. </DL>
<A NAME="bastardize">
<B>bastardize, </B>verb, <B>-ized,</B> <B>-izing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to make degenerate; debase. <BR> <I>Ex. Spanish craft has been bastardized by generations of artisans who each added their own elaborations (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to declare or pronounce to be a bastard. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to become degenerate; deteriorate. noun <B>bastardization.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="bastardtitle">
<B>bastard title,</B> <B>=half title </B>(def. 1).</DL>
<A NAME="bastardturtle">
<B>bastard turtle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a kind of sea turtle found in the coastal waters of North America; ridley. </DL>
<A NAME="bastardtype">
<B>bastard type,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a font of type cast on a body smaller or larger than the usual body. </DL>
<A NAME="bastardwing">
<B>bastard wing,</B> <B>=alula.</B></DL>
<A NAME="bastardy">
<B>bastardy, </B>noun, pl. <B>-tardies.</B> <B>=illegitimacy.</B></DL>
<A NAME="baste">
<B>baste</B> (1), transitive verb, <B>basted,</B> <B>basting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to drip or pour melted fat or butter on (meat or fowl) while roasting. <BR> <I>Ex. The cook basted the turkey to keep it from drying out and to improve its flavor.</I> noun <B>baster.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="baste">
<B>baste</B> (2), transitive verb, <B>basted,</B> <B>basting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to sew with long, loose stitches in order to hold the cloth for further work or until final sewing. <BR> <I>Ex. to baste a hem in place, baste a dress.</I> noun <B>baster.</B> </DL>
<B>Bastille, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an old fort in Paris used as a prison, especially for enemies of the king. A mob captured it on July 14, 1789, at the beginning of the French Revolution, and later destroyed it. </DL>
<A NAME="bastille">
<B>bastille</B> or <B>bastile, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a prison, especially an oppressive one. <DD><B> 2. </B>any prison, jail, or other place of detention. </DL>
<A NAME="bastilleday">
<B>Bastille Day,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> July 14, a French national holiday commemorating the capture of the Bastille. It corresponds to Independence Day (July 4) in the United States. </DL>
<B>bastinado, </B>noun, pl. <B>-does,</B> verb, <B>-doed,</B> <B>-doing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>a beating with a stick, especially on the soles of the feet. <DD><B> b. </B>such a beating, or a beating of the upper thighs and buttocks, or both, as a kind of punishment, still used in parts of Asia. <DD><B> 2. </B>a stick; cudgel. <BR> <I>Ex. They did this ... without riots of protest or direct coercion of the bastinado or bayonet (Time).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to beat or flog with a stick, especially on the soles of the feet. </DL>
<A NAME="basting">
<B>basting, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the moistening of meat while roasting, with drippings or other liquid. <DD><B> 2. </B>the liquid used. </DL>
<A NAME="bastings">
<B>bastings, </B>noun pl.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>long, loose stitches to hold cloth in place until the final sewing. <DD><B> 2. </B>the threads used for these. </DL>
<A NAME="bastion">
<B>bastion, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a part of a fortification that sticks out so that the defenders can fire at attackers from as many angles as possible. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a stronghold; center of defense. <BR> <I>Ex. ... a bastion of free world democracy (Newsweek).</I> (SYN) defense, fortification. </DL>
<A NAME="bastioned">
<B>bastioned, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> provided with or defended by bastions. </DL>
<A NAME="bastnasite">
<B>bastnasite</B> or <B>bastnaesite, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an ore, a carbonate fluoride of cerium. </DL>
<A NAME="basuto">
<B>Basuto, </B>noun, pl. <B>-to</B> or <B>-tos,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> a member of the Bantu tribe inhabiting Lesotho (the former Basutoland) and the western border of Natal; Sotho. <BR> <I>Ex. Those Basutos now dwell among their mountain fastnesses, with only a swathe of fertile soil left to them after their last disastrous war against the Boers (C. C. Spencer).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with the Basuto. </DL>
<A NAME="bat">
<B>bat</B> (1), noun, verb, <B>batted,</B> <B>batting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>a stout wooden stick or club, used to hit the ball in baseball, cricket, and similar games. <BR> <I>Ex. The hitter swung the bat and hit a home run.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>a racket used in certain games, such as tennis. <DD><B> c. </B>(U.S. Informal.) a jockey's whip. <DD><B> 2a. </B>the act of batting. <DD><B> b. </B>a turn at batting. <BR> <I>Ex. Who goes to bat first?</I> <DD><B> c. </B>a batter or batsman. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Informal.) a stroke; blow. <DD><B> 4. </B>(U.S. Slang.) a wild time; spree. <DD><B> 5. </B>Also, <B>batt.</B> <DD><B> a. </B>a sheet of cotton wadding, often used for filling quilts; batting. <DD><B> b. </B>a felted mass of fur, or of hair and wool, used in making hats. <DD><B> c. </B>a flexible sheet of fiberglass and rock wool, used for insulation. <DD><B> 6. </B>a lump or other piece of certain substances, such as brick, plaster, or clay, especially a flat disk used for various purposes in ceramics. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Dialect and Slang.) rate of stroke or speed; pace. <DD><I>v.i. </I> (Baseball.) <DD><B> 1. </B>to strike, or strike at, the ball with a bat. <BR> <I>Ex. The new pitcher also bats well.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to be at bat; take one's turn as a batter. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to hit with a bat; hit. <BR> <I>Ex. The kitten batted the balloon with its paws.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>at bat,</B> </I>(U.S.) in position to bat; having a turn at batting. <BR> <I>Ex. Our side is at bat.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>bat around,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>(Slang.) to go from place to place without any definite purpose; move according to the whim of the moment. </I> <I>Ex. His parents gave him a shiny 1920 Buick to bat around in (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(U.S. Slang.) to discuss (something) freely and more or less at random. <BR> <I>Ex. to bat a topic around.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>bat in,</B> </I>(Baseball.) to hit the ball so that a player can score. <BR> <I>Ex. to bat in a man from second to bat in the winning run.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>bat out,</B> </I>(U.S. Slang.) to create quickly and more or less casually. <BR> <I>Ex. to bat out an outline of a story in two hours.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>carry one's bat,</B> </I>(Cricket.) to be not out when the other ten wickets of an innings have fallen. <BR> <I>Ex. The team made its runs in less than two hours and carried out its bats.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>go to bat for,</B> </I>(Informal.) to support the cause of. <BR> <I>Ex. You need a really important figure to go to bat for you (New Yorker).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>off one's own bat,</B> </I>(Informal.) on one's own initiative; without help from others; single-handedly. <BR> <I>Ex. ... initiating off his own bat such enterprises as the famous Broadway Translations (Saturday Review).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>right off the bat,</B> </I>(Informal.) without hesitation or deliberation; immediately; quickly. <BR> <I>Ex. He made two sales right off the bat.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>take out one's bat,</B> </I>(Cricket.) to be not out at the end of the innings. </DL>
<A NAME="bat">
<B>bat</B> (2), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a flying mammal with a body like that of a mouse and wings made of thin skin that are supported by the long, slim bones of the forelimbs; chiropter. Bats fly at night and most eat insects, but some live on fruit and a few suck the blood of other mammals. There are over 1000 species, with bodies varying in size from one and a half inches to twelve inches. <DD><B> 2. </B>a type of bomb with wings, which may be released from an aircraft to glide to its target, guided by radar. <BR><I>expr. <B>bats in the belfry,</B> (Slang.) <DD><B> a. </B>the condition of being insane. </I> <I>Ex. The sahib had bats in his belfry, and must be humoured (Blackwood's Magazine).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>oddness or unpredictability in behavior. <BR> <I>Ex. It's a case of bats in his belfry on that one subject (R. D. Saunders).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>blind as a bat,</B> </I>(Informal.) completely blind; totally unable to see. <BR> <I>Ex. He felt blind as a bat without his glasses.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>like a bat out of hell,</B> </I>(Slang.) with great speed; recklessly. <BR> <I>Ex. to drive like a bat out of hell.</I> adj. <B>batlike.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="bat">
<B>bat</B> (3), transitive verb, <B>batted,</B> <B>batting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) to move (the eyelids) quickly; wink (the eyes), especially from surprise or emotion. <BR> <I>Ex. The rock nearly hit him, but he didn't bat an eye. ... don't you bat your eyes to please none of 'em (Joel Chandler Harris).</I> </DL>
