From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbatterbat‧ter1 /ˈbætə $ -ər/ verb [intransitive always + adverb/preposition, transitive] HITto hit someone or something many times, in a way that hurts or damages them He was battered to death. As a child, she was battered by her father.batter at/on/against etc People were battering at the door.batter somebody with something He was battered on the head with a cricket bat.batter away She battered away at his chest with her fists.batter something down Armed police battered his door down.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
batter• Michael Pearson, 19, of Leeds, battered 19-year-old Dean Fisher to death after meeting him in a pub.• His campaign team was battered by a humiliating defeat in Iowa.• Each year, perhaps 4 million women are battered by their husbands.• The man she was living with was battering her, Lee-Cruz said, and she called the police.• The jury heard how Thompson had been maddened by what he saw and battered his wife to death.• There were reports of soldiers battering prisoners with their rifles.• Teachers suspect that the child is being battered regularly by his parents.battered to death• He'd been battered to death.• Park manager Paul Weston said the rabbits had apparently been battered to death.• Two days later the bishop was battered to death in his home.• Mr Davidson was battered to death while his daughter's eye was pierced with a knitting needle.• I'd seen it too and it hadn't told me anything except that Moira was battered to death with a tenor sax.batterbatter2 noun 1 [countable, uncountable]DFF a mixture of flour, eggs, milk etc, used in cooking and for making bread, cakes etc Fry the fish in batter. pancake batter2 [countable]DSB the person who is trying to hit the ball in baseballExamples from the Corpus
batter• Nick has become as consistent as any batter in the Championship.• Hell, for Eloise, could well turn out to be full of fish batter, sliced potatoes and boiling fat.• Keep away from the fried batter and won-ton pastry dishes and ask for steamed or boiled rice.• The next batter was pinch-hitter Jeffrey Hammonds.• Stir batter down and bake cakes on a lightly greased griddle, using about cup batter per pancake.• I could see his fingers working signals behind the mitt so intensely the batter had to have seen too.• Add the flour, semolina and currants and stir into the batter with a wooden spoon.Origin batter1 (1300-1400) Old French batre or English bat “to hit” batter2 1. (1400-1500) Probably from → BATTER12. (1800-1900) → BAT2 