batten down the hatches

English

Etymology

From the practice aboard a ship of sealing hatches to prevent water getting below-decks in a storm by using covers secured by strips of material, called battens, firmly attached to the frame of the hatch opening.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

batten down the hatches (third-person singular simple present battens down the hatches, present participle battening down the hatches, simple past and past participle battened down the hatches)

1. (idiomatic) To prepare for trouble.

Usage notes

• Other determiners (eg, these, those, all the) and modifiers (eg, virtual, financial) can modify hatches.

Translations

to prepare for trouble

• Finnish: valmistautua vaikeuksiin
• French: se préparer au pire
• German: sich warm anziehen
• Italian: correre ai ripari, prepararsi al peggio

nautical: to cover the hatches

• Finnish: sulkea luukut
• French: condamner les panneaux
• German: die Schotten dicht machen
• Italian: chiudere i boccaporti
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skalke lukene

• Russian: задраить люки (zadraitʹ ljuki)
• Spanish: cerrar las escotillas

See also

• kitty bar the door

Further reading

• “batten down the hatches”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “batten down the hatches, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “batten down the hatches”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “batten down the hatches”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “batten down the hatches” in TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.