bat譯為「編蝠」，hell譯為「地獄」。likea bat out ofhell字面意思是「像是從地獄中飛出的編蝠」，引申為「飛快地」。想像一下，在地獄中的編據倉皇飛出，一定是遇到什麼狀況了。
所以，有人遇到某事或聽到某事，一路狂飆時，可以這樣說：
He was running like a bat out of hell.
他一路飛奔。
再看下老外聊天時怎麼用。
A:Sam was just running like a bat out of hellHe almost knocked me over.
山姆剛剛一路飛奔。他差點把我撞倒了。
B:Really？I wonder where he was going so quickly.
真的嗎？真納悶他趕著要去哪裡。
與上述意思相近的表達還有這些：
1 He is as blind as a bat without his glasses.
他不戴眼鏡時看不清任何東西。
2The horse ran like the wind along the mountain ridge.
那匹馬沿著山脊飛跑著。
run like the wind飛跑
3He ran away at great speed down the road.
他沿著這條路狂奔而去。
4He ran like mad to catch the last bus.
他飛奔趕上最後一班車。
5He jumped on to his horse and dashed away.
他跳上馬，飛馳而去。
run like mad狂奔
dash away飛快地跑開
6The children raced towards their mother.
孩子們飛快地向母親跑來。
7 He rushed out of the classroom.
他飛快地跑出教室。
8The ball rocketed into the roof of the net.
球飛速竄進了網窩。
9He makes progress in Chinese by leaps and bounds.
他的中文進步很快。
by/in leaps and bounds突飛猛進；迅速地