Dictionary

go to bat en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Meanings

1. To be the individual or team that is currently batting; to play offense.
   • Turner hit to short right and took his first, and then his second by a wild throw of Winslow, but was trapped between second and third and put out by Stearns. Detroit thus retired without recording a tally, and the University again went to bat. 1875 June, University of Michigan, “Various Topics”, in The Chronicle, page 201:
   • Robinson went to bat for the last time that day in the eighth inning, singling for his fourth straight hit. 1968 December, A.S. Young, “Jackie Opens the Door — Wide!”, in Ebony, page 136:
2. (figuratively) To be aggressive, to be assertive, to actively pursue a goal or action.
   • Barb, you have to hang in there kid. […] Two more weeks, maybe three, and we go to bat, Barb. 1995, Tom Clancy, Debt of Honor, page 249:
   • The fastest way to destroy one's credibility in Ottawa or anywhere else is to go to bat over something frivolous. I recall Dan McKenzie (Winnipeg South Centre) coming to see me with an article he'd picked up that said metrification would result in a ten-hour day. He even had a picture of the new clock. 1980, Jack Horner, My Own Brand, page 96:
3. (idiomatic, usually, with for) To champion, to actively assist, to provide support (for someone).
   • Among foremen who often “go to bat” for their men, encouraging efficiency brings an improvement in group production norms 1968, Maneck Wadia, Management and the Behavioral Sciences, page 187:
   • If he had been guided along the path of righteousness and worked hard for honest people, “Ashie” would have been a good man. But he was, indeed, a victim of circumstances in that he went to bat for the wrong side. 1955, Edwin Strickland, Gene Wortsman, Phenix City, page 172:

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