batlike

English

Etymology

bat + -like

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, page 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, page 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, page 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, page 180:
      The Oilbird is one of the few bird species to use batlike echolocation to help navigate the night and cave darkness.

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