English Reference
noun

batsman

n.
UK /bˈætsmən/ bats·man UK spelling batsmen

  1. 01 B2 Upper Intermediate Sport

    a player in the game of cricket whose job is to hit the ball and score runs.

    a player in cricket who bats, or who is currently batting. While 'batter' is increasingly used as a gender-neutral alternative, 'batsman' remains standard in many traditional contexts.

    Simple

    The batsman hit a powerful shot that reached the edge of the field.

    In context

    The opening batsman managed to survive the first hour of play despite the aggressive bowling from the opposing team.

  2. 02 C2 Proficiency ArchaicTechnical Science

    a person on a ship who used wooden boards to guide planes during landing.

    a flight deck officer who used hand-held paddles or bats to signal landing instructions to pilots. This role has largely been replaced by automated systems.

    Simple

    In the old films, you can see a batsman guiding the plane onto the ship.

    In context

    Before the advent of modern optical landing systems, the batsman was solely responsible for ensuring the pilot maintained the correct glide path.

    Usage

    Usually refers to historical naval aviation contexts.

    signallermarshall

From bat + -s- + -man.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Level B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency Frequent
Updated