batlike
adjEtymology From bat + -like.
1
Having characteristics similar to those of a bat, usually used with reference to the flying mammal.
- […] 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.1838, William Gifford et al., The Quarterly Review, page 113:
- 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.1916 December 29, James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, New York, N.Y.: B[enjamin] W. Huebsch, →OCLC:
2 more examples
- 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.1953, L. P. Hartley, The Go-Between:
- The most famous of these Los Caprichos is “The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters” (plate 43), which has a sky full of batlike creatures.1981, James B. Twitchell, The Living Dead: A Study of the Vampire in Romantic Literature, page 29:
2
Similar to that of a bat.
- His sketches show the details of batlike wings which were to spread out on the downward stroke and fold up with the upward stroke.1912, Charles B. Hayward, Dirigible Balloons, page 1:
- What was it? They could not tell themselves. They only knew that the black shadows at the top of the staircase had thickened, had coalesced, had taken a definite, batlike shape.1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:
1 more example
- The Oilbird is one of the few bird species to use batlike echolocation to help navigate the night and cave darkness.2006, Les Beletsky, Birds of the World, page 180:
- Synonyms
- battish