Bat House

–noun

1.	Sports. a. the wooden club used in certain games, as baseball and cricket, to strike the ball. b. a racket, esp. one used in badminton or table tennis. c. a whip used by a jockey. d. the act of using a club or racket in a game. e. the right or turn to use a club or racket.

2.	a heavy stick, club, or cudgel.

3.	Informal. a blow, as with a bat.

4.	any fragment of brick or hardened clay.

5.	Masonry. a brick cut transversely so as to leave one end whole.

6.	British Slang. speed; rate of motion or progress, esp. the pace of the stroke or step of a race.

7.	Slang. a spree; binge: to go on a bat.

8.	Ceramics. a. a sheet of gelatin or glue used in bat printing. b. a slab of moist clay. c. a ledge or shelf in a kiln. d. a slab of plaster for holding a piece being modeled or for absorbing excess water from slip.

9.

batt.

–verb (used with object)

10.	to strike or hit with or as if with a bat or club.

11.	Baseball. to have a batting average of; hit: He batted .325 in spring training.

–verb (used without object)

12.	Sports. a. to strike at the ball with the bat. b. to take one's turn as a batter.

13.	5 Slang. to rush.

—Verb phrases

14.	bat around, a. Slang. to roam; drift. b. Informal. to discuss or ponder; debate: We batted the idea around. c. Baseball. to have every player in the lineup take a turn at bat during a single inning.

15.	bat in, Baseball. to cause (a run) to be scored by getting a hit: He batted in two runs with a double to left.

16.	bat out, to do, write, produce, etc., hurriedly: I have to bat out a term paper before class.

—Idioms

17.

at bat, Baseball. a. taking one's turn to bat in a game: at bat with two men in scoring position. b. an instance at bat officially charged to a batter except when the batter is hit by a pitch, receives a base on balls, is interfered with by the catcher, or makes a sacrifice hit or sacrifice fly: two hits in three at bats.

18.	bat the breeze. breeze 1 (def. 11).

19.	go to bat for, Informal. to intercede for; vouch for; defend: to go to bat for a friend.

20.	right off the bat, Informal. at once; without delay: They asked me to sing right off the bat.

–noun

1.	a building in which people live; residence for human beings.

2.	a household.

3.	(often initial capital letter) a family, including ancestors and descendants: the great houses of France; the House of Hapsburg.

4.	a building for any purpose: a house of worship.

5.	a theater, concert hall, or auditorium: a vaudeville house.

6.	the audience of a theater or the like.

7.	a place of shelter for an animal, bird, etc.

8.	the building in which a legislative or official deliberative body meets.

9.	(initial capital letter) the body itself, esp. of a bicameral legislature: the House of Representatives.

10.	a quorum of such a body.

11.	(often initial capital letter) a commercial establishment; business firm: the House of Rothschild; a publishing house.

12.	a gambling casino.

13.	the management of a commercial establishment or of a gambling casino: rules of the house.

14.	an advisory or deliberative group, esp. in church or college affairs.

15.	a college in an English-type university.

16.	a residential hall in a college or school; dormitory.

17.	the members or residents of any such residential hall.

18.	Informal. a brothel; whorehouse.

19.	British. a variety of lotto or bingo played with paper and pencil, esp. by soldiers as a gambling game.

20.	Also called parish. Curling. the area enclosed by a circle 12 or 14 ft. (3.7 or 4.2 m) in diameter at each end of the rink, having the tee in the center.

21.	Nautical. any enclosed shelter above the weather deck of a vessel: bridge house; deck house.

22.	Astrology. one of the 12 divisions of the celestial sphere, numbered counterclockwise from the point of the eastern horizon.

–verb (used with object)

23.	to put or receive into a house, dwelling, or living quarters: More than 200 students were housed in the dormitory.

24.	to give shelter to; harbor; lodge: to house flood victims in schools.

25.	to provide with a place to work, study, or the like: This building houses our executive staff.

26.	to provide storage space for; be a receptacle for or repository of: The library houses 600,000 books.

27.	to remove from exposure; put in a safe place.

28.	Nautical. a. to stow securely. b. to lower (an upper mast) and make secure, as alongside the lower mast. c. to heave (an anchor) home.

29.	Carpentry. a. to fit the end or edge of (a board or the like) into a notch, hole, or groove. b. to form (a joint) between two pieces of wood by fitting the end or edge of one into a dado of the other.

–verb (used without object)

30.	to take shelter; dwell.

–adjective

31.	of, pertaining to, or noting a house.

32.	for or suitable for a house: house paint.

33.	of or being a product made by or for a specific retailer and often sold under the store's own label: You'll save money on the radio if you buy the house brand.

34.	served by a restaurant as its customary brand: the house wine.

—Idioms

35.	bring down the house, to call forth vigorous applause from an audience; be highly successful: The children's performances brought down the house.

36.	clean house. clean (def. 48).

37.	dress the house, Theater. a. to fill a theater with many people admitted on free passes; paper the house. b. to arrange or space the seating of patrons in such a way as to make an audience appear larger or a theater or nightclub more crowded than it actually is.

38.	keep house, to maintain a home; manage a household.

39.	like a house on fire or afire, very quickly; with energy or enthusiasm: The new product took off like a house on fire.

40.	on the house, as a gift from the management; free: Tonight the drinks are on the house.

41.	put or set one's house in order, a. to settle one's affairs. b. to improve one's behavior or correct one's faults: It is easy to criticize others, but it would be better to put one's own house in order first.