A History of Short Words

From the New York Times Crossword Puzzle

BATS

Sun, 29 Oct '23
What vampires don't turn into, in "Twilight"
Tue, 7 Feb '23
Is up, in baseball
Mon, 12 Dec '22
Fliers that may consume thousands of insects in an hour
Mon, 26 Sep '22
Faces a pitcher
Sun, 25 Sep '22
Steps up to the plate
Fri, 18 Mar '22
They may emit as many as 200 beeps per second
Mon, 6 Sep '21
Have ___ in one's belfry