batter

Everyday

1. Batter is a runny mixture of flour, eggs and milk used to make pancakes, cakes or to coat fried food. tree →
2. A batter is the player who tries to hit the ball in baseball, cricket (usually batsman or batter) or rounders. tree →
3. To batter means to hit hard again and again: waves battered the boat. tree →

In the lessons

In cooking lessons: whisk the batter until smooth; fish in batter (fish and chips). In sports PE: in baseball the batter stands at home plate; in cricket the batter defends the wicket. In stories and news: storms batter the coast. Phrases: pancake batter, cake batter, battered fish.

Examples

• Mix the pancake batter until it is smooth. tree →
• Pour the batter into the pan. tree →
• The batter hit a home run. tree →
• Huge waves battered the cliffs. tree →
• Fish and chips come in crispy batter. tree →
• Do not eat raw cake batter with raw egg in it. tree →
• The batter swung and missed. tree →
• The old boat was battered by storms. tree →
• But come, let us get outside before the elephants arrive and batter down the place." tree →

Note

Batter for cooking is uncountable; a batter (player) is countable. Do not confuse with butter (yellow fat from milk) or better (more good). Raw batter with raw eggs or flour can make you ill.

In Jewish tradition

It means to strike again and again, as with a battering ram to break down walls in a siege. It can also mean beating grain out of its husks.

Interpretation. Ezekiel's siege pictures show Jerusalem's fall as a warning from God. Gideon's threshing in the winepress shows how fearful and hidden Israel had become before the angel called him.

Examples

• And he shall set his battering engines against thy walls, and with his axes he shall break down thy towers. (Prophets EZK.26.9, JPS 1917) tree →
• and lay siege against it, and build forts against it, and cast up a mound against it; set camps also against it, and set battering rams against it round about. (Prophets EZK.4.2, JPS 1917) tree →
• And they came and besieged him in Abel of Beth-maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood in the moat; and all the people that were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. (Prophets 2SA.20.15, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Batter for cooking is uncountable; a batter (player) is countable. Do not confuse with butter (yellow fat from milk) or better (more good). Raw batter with raw eggs or flour can make you ill.