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a soldier assigned to an officer as a servant.
Contemporary Examples

And so comes the odd question of which camp should win out—the Jokers or the batmen?
Anonymous Member Speaks About Divide in the Collective’s Mission Parmy Olson June 12, 2012

Historical Examples

batmen, cooks, and servants were hurried up to help stem the overflowing tide of Germans.
Canada in Flanders, Volume III (of 3) Charles G. D. Roberts

So his find in batmen wasn’t going to be as wonderful as all that, after all.
Mercenary Dallas McCord Reynolds

Then the batmen were fetched in and given the presents from the Christmas Tree.
Tell England Ernest Raymond

A limited number of openings are offered to any who care to act as batmen to unemployed munition-workers.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 156, April 16, 1919 Various

It is impossible to imagine what we should have done without runners, signallers or batmen, to say nothing of the food.
The Fifth Leicestershire J.D. Hills

Staff-sergeants, batmen, and other details are proportionately provided for.
South Africa and the Transvaal War, Vol. IV (of 6) Louis Creswicke

Both of us would have liked to take our batmen with us and to say: “Don’t trouble, my man will do that for you.”
Tell England Ernest Raymond

noun (pl) -men
an officer’s personal servant in any of the armed forces
noun
a character in an American comic strip and several films who secretly assumes a batlike costume in order to fight crime
noun
John. 1801–39, a pioneer who selected the site of the city of Melbourne
n.

“officer’s servant,” originally military title for “man in charge of a bat-horse and its load,” 1755, from bat “pack-saddle” (late 14c.), from Old French bast (Modern French bât), from Late Latin bastum (see baton). Hence also batwoman (1941). The comic book hero dates from 1939.

A comic strip character that first appeared in 1939. With his faithful sidekick Robin (the Boy Wonder), Batman fights crime in Gotham City, foiling evil villains such as the Joker and the Riddler.

Note: Batman’s adventures have been widely adapted for television and a number of motion pictures.