to batten down the hatches
6
8.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
prepararse
- As the deadline approaches, the team decided to batten down the hatches and focus on completing the project.
- just batten down the hatches
- better batten down the hatches
Well, ladies and gentlemen, batten down the hatches because there is more news in tonight's Stormy watch.
- Well, ladies and gentlemen, batten down the hatches because there is more news in tonight's Stormy watch.
Examples
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As Hurricane Sandy pummels the New York/New Jersey area, most chain restaurants are battening down the hatches until the storm clouds clear.
Blog text (4) -
After battening down the hatches, they would be staying put until the storm passed.
Fiction book (2000) -
We need to batten down the hatches.
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Okay, batten down the hatches.
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The White House had done a decent job of battening down the hatches and trying to stop the crisis.
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We'll batten down the hatches and secure the deck.
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As a result of the uncertainty, more companies are battening down the hatches.
Blog text (33) -
If you're planning to be anywhere in the Gulf today, better batten down the hatches.
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We're battening down the hatches in Bishop, hoping the weather forecasters are wrong about the high winds.
Blog text (29) -
As the storm approached New York City, a handful of associates at the New York Marriott Downtown Hotel stayed there to "batten down the hatches."
Blog text (3)
Synonyms
40
6.5
Get ready for something bad or difficult that you expect to happen
16
7.5
To stay in one safe place and wait until danger passes
How Prepared
- Informal
6
8.2
25
3.6
40
6.5
888
1.5
Surface Forms
Morphology
The core sense of physically securing covers is directly derivable from 'batten' (to secure) + 'hatches' (hinged covers), so a learner could infer a literal meaning about fastening things for a storm. However, the extension to a general idiom meaning 'prepare for trouble' is a nautical/metaphorical shift and not fully predictable or broadly obvious to a B1 learner without prior exposure, so the phrase is only partially compositional.
Etymology
Batten down the hatches comes from sailors who used wooden strips called battens to fasten the ship's hatches shut before a storm so water would not come in. So today it means 'prepare for trouble' or make strong plans to stay safe.