English

Adjective

batlike ‎(comparative more batlike, superlative most batlike)

1. Having characteristics similar to those of a bat, usually used with reference to the flying mammal.
   • 1838: William Gifford, et al., The Quarterly Review, p. 113:

     ... they cling, like creepers or women, to the nearest support, to fly from that corroding ennui and listlessness, those tumults of the mind, which flit batlike amid the golden-groined ceilings, and cannot be dispelled by the lictor guard.

   • 1916, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

     He had told himself bitterly as he walked through the streets that she was a figure of the womanhood of her country, a batlike soul waking to the consciousness of itself in darkness and secrecy and loneliness.

   • 1953, L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between

     There was a trap somewhere, I felt sure; and though I didn't know the term "hush-money," its meaning flittered, bat-like, about my mind.

   • 1981, James B. Twitchell, The Living Dead: A Study of the Vampire in Romantic Literature, p. 29

     The most famous of these Los Caprichos is “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” (plate 43), which has a sky full of batlike creatures.

2. Similar to that of a bat
   • 1912, Charles B. Hayward, Dirigible Balloons, p. 1:

     His sketches show the details of batlike wings which were to spread out on the downward stroke and fold up with the upward stroke.

   • 2006, Les Beletsky, Birds of the World, p. 180:

     The Oilbird is one of the few bird species to use batlike echolocation to help navigate the night and cave darkness.

Synonyms

• battish

Anagrams

• tablike