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Batten Down The Hatches Meaning with Useful Examples

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What does the idiom “Batten Down The Hatches” mean? Here you will find the definition of the phrase and its origin. You will also find example sentences showing how to properly use the phrase and find other ways to express this phrase.

Batten Down The Hatches

Batten Down The Hatches

Batten Down The Hatches Meaning

When someone says ‘batten down the hatches’, it means that they prepare themselves, get ready for trouble situation so that they will be able to survive a coming difficulty. While this originated as a nautical phrase, it is now used for any sort of imminent problem.

In the case of bad weather this often refers to the use of sheeting to protect property or goods.

Origin

To batten down the hatches is a nautical term from the early 19th century. When a ship was about to enter rough seas, the captain would order the crew to batten down the hatches.

“Batten Down The Hatches” Examples

  • Most people batten down the hatches and look up in the month.
  • There’s a tornado coming—batten down the hatches!
  • When you’re coming down with flu all you can do is batten down the hatches and wait for it to pass.
  • He urged people to batten down the hatches, a weather forecaster’s cliché second only to ‘ travel chaos’.
  • They knew it was a time to batten down the hatches.
  • The tornado is coming, so we had better batten down the hatches here and get to the cellar.
  • After months of fears about the economy, consumers are ready to batten down the hatches.
  • As a storm was brewing the crew received orders to batten down the hatches.
  • There’s a storm coming, so let’s batten down the hatches.
  • The crew had been mustered to batten down the hatches.
  • Many firms are battening down the hatches and preparing to ride out the storm.
  • Villa had to batten down the hatches and win the hard.
  • Another expression linked to sailing is batten down the hatches.
  • If you’re one of them, don’t fret: there’s still time to batten down the hatches.
  • A natural tendency in times of recession is to batten down the hatches and think about our own needs.
  • My mother-in-law is coming to town this weekend, so I better batten down the hatches.
Related  (As) Cool As A Cucumber: Definition, Origin with Useful Example Sentences

Other Ways to Say “Batten Down The Hatches”

  • Prepare for a difficult situation
  • Get ready for trouble
  • Firmly fasten the entrances
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Justin Spears

Wednesday 8th of December 2021

Hello,

A mighty storm was brewing. I was scared. I was cold. I was about to soil myself due to the sound of the storm outside. But lucky for me, I remember one time back in my younger years that I stumbled across this site. This exact site. Because of this post, I was able to properly "batten" down my hatches. I am eternally grateful. Thank you.

JS