like a bat out of hell

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

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Prepositional phrase

like a bat out of hell

1. (simile) With crazy or excessive intensity or speed.

   Synonym: hell-for-leather

   He came tearing around the corner like a bat out of hell and nearly ran us over.

   • 1904, The Texas Civil Appeals Reports: Cases Argued and Determined in the Courts of Civil Appeals of the State of Texas, volume 32, page 594:

     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.

   • 1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 3, in The Crying of Lot 49, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, page 38:

     The 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.

   • 1977, Jim Steinman (lyrics and music), “Bat Out of Hell”, in Bat Out of Hell, performed by Meat Loaf:

     Like a bat out of hell
     I'll be gone when the morning comes.

Translations

Translations

• Finnish: kuin viimeistä päivää
• French: à toute berzingue (fr), à fond la caisse (fr), à pleine balle
• German: wie Schmidts Katze (de)
• Polish: na złamanie karku (pl)
• Swedish: som ett jehu (sv)