batten
verb/ˈbætn/
/ˈbætn/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they batten | /ˈbætn/ /ˈbætn/ |
| he / she / it battens | /ˈbætnz/ /ˈbætnz/ |
| past simple battened | /ˈbætnd/ /ˈbætnd/ |
| past participle battened | /ˈbætnd/ /ˈbætnd/ |
| -ing form battening | /ˈbætnɪŋ/ /ˈbætnɪŋ/ |
Idioms
See batten in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarybatten down the hatches
- to prepare yourself for a period of difficulty or trouble
- A natural tendency in times of recession is to batten down the hatches and think about our own needs.
Definitions on the go
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- (on a ship) to shut all the entrances to the lower part, especially because a storm is expected
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