Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

bat an eyelid

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.99 in modern English

Syllables: bat an eyelid
IPA

17

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

1

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To react in any slight way; to respond; to care.

Example Sentences

"When laptop computers first came out they were something of a novelty. These days, nobody bats an eyelid."
"[…]he got the drop on Cox, the only time I had seen or heard of its being done — had his pistol out and stuck in Cox's face before Cox could bat an eyelid."
"If you were to walk into a salon in America after a few 10–12 hour days of sweaty, dusty travel with no shower, you'd probably be politely asked to leave and not return until you've cleaned up. But here in a land whose resources and infrastructure cannot sustain such frivolity, the barber doesn't even bat an eyelid."
"Dublin's not a bad place to be gay. Most people wouldn't bat an eyelid at public displays of affection between same-sex couples[…]"

Etymology

From bat (“flutter”), circa 1900.

Inflected Forms

bats an eyelid (present, singular) batting an eyelid (participle, present) batted an eyelid (participle, past) batted an eyelid (past)

Phrases

without batting an eyelid bat one's eyes turn a hair

Frequently Paired Words

bat one's eyes turn a hair

Synonyms

bat an eye bat an eyelash flinch

Questions

What does bat an eyelid mean?: To react in any slight way; to respond; to care.
Where does bat an eyelid come from?: From bat (“flutter”), circa 1900.

How to pronounce bat an eyelid

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “bat an eyelid”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “bat an eyelid”.
Repeat and practice — Say “bat an eyelid” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.