Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BAT, n.¹ [Sax. bat; Ir. bat, bata; Russ. bot; allied to beat.]

1. A heavy stick or club; a piece of wood with one end thicker or broader than the other.
2. Bat or bate, a small copper coin of Germany, with a small mixture of silver, worth four crutzers. Also a coin of Switzerland, worth five livres. – Encyc.
3. A term given by miners to shale or bituminous shale. – Kirwan.
4. A mass of cotton prepared for filling quilts or comfortables.