batter1 (bater)

ing the broken state of the type. 3. In ceram., a mallet used to flatten out wet clay before molding. See batting - block. batter (bat'er), v. i. [Origin unknown; perhaps connected in some way with batter1, or with F. abattre, beat down.] To incline from the perpendicular: said of a wall whose face recedes as it rises: opposed to overhang. Retaining and breast walls batter towards the bank. E. H. Knight , Amer. Mech. Dict., L. 247. batter