Batter, as Webster 1913 notes, is an architectural term for
walls that rise not vertically but with a (usually slight) incline inward. It
is not associated with any one style or historical period of building, but was
common enough in ancient Egyptian architecture, in fortress architecture,
and more recently, Art Deco architecture. It describes only the incline, not
the physical condition of the wall.
In the URLs below you will find Egyptian examples from the Old Kingdom (mastaba
tombs from Giza) and New Kingdom (Karnak pylon gates). I found a few
typically astonishing Egyptian revival structures, a couple of fortresses in
the USA, an early 20th-century bungalow with characteristic battered
posts holding up the porch, and a couple of Art Deco buildings with battered walls.
URLs.
http://digilander.libero.it/mickymaus/Sfondi/Architettura/02-08-01/outside%20the%20Karnak%20Temple%20(Luxor,%20Egypt).jpg
(Wall at Karnak in Egypt with a slight batter.)
http://www.aliciapatterson.org/APF1803/Stille/Stille01.jpg (at Luxor, Egypt.)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/images/pyramid_gallery_mastaba.jpg
(Mastaba tomb from Giza, Egypt.)
http://www.artic.edu/aic/exhibitions/pharaohs_exhib/amarna/learn_explore/arch_virt.html
(Another mastaba tomb, Giza.)
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/fa267/19th/egyptian_richmond.jpg (Egyptian
revival building at Virginia Commonwealth University!)
http://www.vintagedesigns.com/architecture/egypt/sem/ (See the wiggy battered
door of the Egyptian revival tank house!)
http://www.nps.gov/fomc/ (Fort McHenry, Baltimore, Maryland USA.)
http://www.nps.gov/casa/ (Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine, Florida,
USA.)
http://www.myplanet.net/csharp/BUNGALOW.jpg (Bungalow with battered porch supports.)
http://www.joslyn.org/geninfo/building.htm (Art Deco Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, Nebraska,
USA.)
http://www.members.tripod.com/deconut/id58.htm (Art Deco Union Station, Joslyn
Art Museum, etc., Omaha.)