Dictionary

batlet en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈbætlət/

Etymology

From bat + -let. Probably a spurious word, in the 20th century reborrowed from word-lists. Both this and batler are only known from the same Shakespeare locus; neither is it known that battler means a fuller’s beetle but him who beetles or “posses” the clothes. However for the meaning of a flat cuboid on a handle to clean textiles by muscles battril, which could be a metathesis of batler, is known to have been used in the Lancashire dialect, such as by Tim Bobbin on multiple occasions.

Meanings

1. A short bat for beating clothes when washing them.
   • These 'batlets', which had of necessity to be made from well-seasoned wood, were evidently prized household items, often intricately carved on the upper surface. 1992, Christina Hardyment, Home Comfort: A History of Domestic Arrangements ; in Association with the National Trust:
   • "If you come between me and my actions again, I will take a batlet to you." He shoved past her so hard that Dougless nearly fell against the wall, and she watched with a heavy heart as he strode angrily down the path and out through the door ... 2012, Jude Deveraux, A Knight in Shining Armor, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 258:
   • Clo[wn]. And I mine: I remember when I was in loue, I broke my ſword vpon a ſtone, and bid him take that for comming a night to Iane Smile, and I remember the kiſſing of her batler [var. batlet], and the Cowes dugs that her prettie chopt hands had milk’d; […] c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], page 191, column 2:

Forms

Synonyms

battledore · batting staff · washing paddle · fuller’s beetle · washing beetle · clap staff · batling staff · washing bat · laundry bat

wikipedia: Lancashire dialect · wikipedia: John Collier (caricaturist)