bat away

English

Verb

bat away (third-person singular simple present bats away, present participle batting away, simple past and past participle batted away)

1. To knock an object, usually a ball, away from oneself.

   The ball can still be batted away with one or both hands. It can be batted from a player's hands or batted away during a shot.

2. To avoid by diverting the focus of a discussion.
   • 2008 April 13, Robin McKie, Heather Stewart, “Hunger. Strikes. Riots. The food crisis bites”, in The Observer:

     For his part, Hank Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary - asked about the impact of US energy policies on food prices on Friday - tried to bat away the question.

3. (US, baseball, of a batter) To use one's own judgment to aggressively swing at pitches, rather than following a coaches instructions.
4. (US, circus slang) To use any means to take the money of participants in a circus gaming attraction.

Translations

to knock an object

• Dutch: wegslaan (nl)
• Finnish: lyödä (fi)

to avoid by diverting the focus of a discussion

• Finnish: väistää (fi)