off the bat
56
6.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
de inmediato
- So already off the bat, super fun.
- right off the bat
I'll say that right off the bat, but it's a little chewy.
- I'll say that right off the bat, but it's a little chewy.
- Only thing I don't like right off the bat is the beans are just like Pinto.
- Maybe you could just explain for us right off the bat, what is a stroke?
- When you compare that to this, well, right off the bat Parallels gets points for just running.
- So I was smitten with him right off the bat.
- Well, let me start with the strengths right off the bat.
- All right, so right off the bat, I do not like that wind Sander.
Examples
-
And right off the bat, she puts soup on the table.
Fiction book (1992) -
We'll break even right off the bat, and that means profits faster than anyone thought at first.
Fiction book (1990) -
And I can just return that right off the bat right?
-
One way of thinking about this right off the bat is following.
-
And it right off the bat looks terrible.
-
So here are two of them right off the bat that I got a big kick out of.
-
Right off the bat, I liked her.
-
Let's take a question link right off the bat now.
-
And my first question right off the bat was what is physics?
-
I recognized you off the bat, and I knew we would be friends.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
At once without waiting
960
1.0
Without any delay
344
1.0
Immediately without delay
330
1.0
Right away without any delay
50
3.2
Right away without any hesitation
25
5.6
Happen at once without delay
14
5.3
Quickly while you do something, without planning
8
3.0
Immediately without delay
7
3.2
Without delay after something happens
Very quickly, in almost no time
Right from the start
Antonyms
How Quickly
Surface Forms
Morphology
off + the + bat
The meaning 'immediately' has a partial link to the constituents: 'off' can imply separation or immediacy, but 'bat' (as in a baseball bat) requires cultural/sports knowledge to see the metaphorical source. The relation is indirect and conventionalized, so a B1 learner who only knows the literal words would not reliably derive the idiomatic sense without prior exposure.
Etymology
Off the bat may come from baseball. When the ball comes 'off the bat' it happens at once, so the phrase means 'immediately'.