bat·ter¹ / ˈbatər/ • v. [tr.] strike repeatedly with hard blows; pound heavily and insistently: a prisoner was battered to death with a table leg fig. their idealism has been battered. ∎  [often as n.] (battering) subject (one's spouse, partner, or child) to repeated violence and assault. ∎  [usu. as n.] (battering) fig. censure, criticize, or defeat severely: the movie took a battering from critics.DERIVATIVES: bat·ter·er n.bat·ter² • n. a semiliquid mixture of flour, egg, and milk or water used in cooking, esp. for making cakes or for coating food before frying.bat·ter³ • n. (in various sports, esp. baseball) a player who is batting.bat·ter⁴ • n. a gradual backward slope in a wall or similar structure.• v. [intr.] (of a wall) have a receding slope.

batter. Slope, or inclination from the perpendicular, as in a Vitruvian opening or on a retaining-wall or battered Egyptian pylon-tower.

batter1 beat with repeated blows. XIV. — AN. baterer, f. OF. batre (mod. battre) :- L. battuere, later battere; cf. BAT1 and -ER4.

batter2 paste used in cooking. XV. prob. f. BATTER1, but cf. OF. bat(e)ure beating.

batter Thick liquid mixture of flour, milk, and eggs, used to coat fish before frying, fried alone to make pancakes or griddle cakes, or baked to make Yorkshire pudding.