Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To become fat.
- intransitive verb To thrive and prosper, especially at another's expense.
- intransitive verb To fatten; overfeed.
- noun One of several flexible strips of wood or plastic placed in pockets at the outer edge of a sail to keep it flat.
- noun A narrow strip of wood used to fasten down the edges of the material that covers hatches in foul weather.
- noun A narrow strip of wood used in construction, especially to cover a seam between boards, as flooring material, or as a lath.
- noun The heavy swinging bar on a loom that holds the reed and is pulled forward to pack down the weft.
- noun A flat stick used in weaving by hand to separate the upper and lower threads of the warp and to tighten the weft.
- transitive verb Nautical To furnish, fasten, or secure with battens.
- idiom (batten down the hatches) To prepare for an imminent disaster or emergency.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Ultimately from Old Norse batna, to improve; see bhad- in Indo-European roots.]
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Alteration of Middle English batent, finished board or bar of wood, from Old French batant, wooden strip, clapper, from present participle of batre, to beat; see batter. Noun, sense 3a and b, from French batant, from Old French.]
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