Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

off the bat

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.29 in modern English

Syllables: of-f the -bat
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

3

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

prep_phrase

From the start; immediately; right away.

American usage

Example Sentences

"hot off the bat; straight off the bat"
"I didn't see anything wrong, off the bat."
""We're not going to uplift the frequency until we've got the new trains. But what we've seen straight off the bat has been a big winner for our customers.""

Etymology

From cricket, baseball, and other sports where a bat is used to strike a ball and the players have to make an immediate decision where to run and what plays to make after a successful strike.

Usage

American usage

Inflected Forms

off the back (alternative)

Synonyms

from the get-go off the rip off rip out of the gate right off the bat straight out of the chute

Questions

What does off the bat mean?: From the start; immediately; right away.
Where does off the bat come from?: From cricket, baseball, and other sports where a bat is used to strike a ball and the players have to make an immediate decision where to run and what plays to make after a successful strike.

How to pronounce off the bat

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