off the bat

prepositional phrase

From the start; immediately; right away.

“hot off the bat; straight off the bat”

Similar
from the get-gooff the ripoff ripout of the gateright off the batstraight out of the chute
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Meanings

prepositional phrase

alternative off the back

  1. USidiomaticFrom the start; immediately; right away.

    hot off the bat; straight off the bat

    2 more examples

    I didn't see anything wrong, off the bat.

    "We're not going to uplift the frequency until we've got the new trains. But what we've seen straight off the bat has been a big winner for our customers."

    2023 November 29, Richard Foster, “Tyne & Wear Metro goes with the flow”, in RAIL, number 997, page 35

    Synonyms: from the get-go, off the rip, off rip, out of the gate, right off the bat, straight out of the chute

Synonyms & antonyms

prepositional phraseFrom the start; immediately; right away.

Similar
from the get-gooff the ripoff ripout of the gateright off the batstraight out of the chute
Also see
out of the gateright off the bat

Origin

From cricket, baseball, and other sports where a bat is used to strike a ball and the players have to make an immediate decision where to run and what plays to make after a successful strike.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

off the bat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/off%20the%20bat

MLA

“off the bat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/off%20the%20bat. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “off the bat,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/off%20the%20bat.

Source: off the bat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.