Meanings
- simileWith crazy or excessive intensity or speed.
He came tearing around the corner like a bat out of hell and nearly ran us over.
3 more examples
Appellee testified that "the train came through like a bat out of hell," and while this language is probably highly figurative, it nevertheless might tend to indicate that the train was running at a very high speed.
1904, The Texas Civil Appeals Reports: Cases Argued and Determined in the Courts of Civil Appeals of the State of Texas, volume 32, page 594The Paranoids cast off, backed the Godzilla II out from the pier, turned and with a concerted whoop took off like a bat out of hell, nearly sending Di Presso over the fantail.
1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 3, in The Crying of Lot 49, New York, N.Y.: Bantam Books, published November 1976, →ISBN, page 38Like a bat out of hell I'll be gone when the morning comes.
1977, Jim Steinman, “Bat Out of Hell”, in Bat Out of Hell, performed by Meat LoafSynonyms: hell-for-leather
Synonyms & antonyms
prepositional phraseWith crazy or excessive intensity or speed.
Translations
Finnish kuin viimeistä päivää
- kuin viimeistä päivääTranslations
French à toute berzingue, à fond la caisse
- à toute berzingueTranslations
- à fond la caisseTranslations
- à pleine balleTranslations
German wie Schmidts Katze
- wie Schmidts KatzeTranslations
Polish na złamanie karku
- na złamanie karkuTranslations
Spanish como alma que lleva el diablo, a toda pastilla
- como alma que lleva el diabloTranslations
- a toda pastillaTranslations
- a toda lecheTranslations
Swedish som ett jehu
- som ett jehuTranslations
Vietnamese hộc tốc
- hộc tốcTranslations
Cite this entry
like a bat out of hell. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/like%20a%20bat%20out%20of%20hell
“like a bat out of hell.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/like%20a%20bat%20out%20of%20hell. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “like a bat out of hell,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/like%20a%20bat%20out%20of%20hell.
Source: like a bat out of hell on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.