batten down

phrasal verb

battened down; battening down; battens down
1
: to prepare for possible trouble or difficulty
People are battening down in preparation for a fierce storm.
2
: to tie, close, or cover (something) in order to prevent it from moving or becoming damaged
Everything on the ship's deck was battened down.

Examples of batten down in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web So far, the Chinese leadership appears ready to batten down the hatches, ride out the turmoil and focus on long-term bets to control the technologies of the future. Christian Shepherd, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024 In the coming days, the White House will surely batten down the hatches and try to refocus attention on Biden’s record, which will be a challenge. John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2024 On a global scale, Fink is convinced consumers are battening down the hatches. Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 29 Sep. 2023 Jabin Jose and Tomy Peralta, managers at a multifamily construction project, left the site early Tuesday afternoon after battening down the final hatches. WSJ, 31 Aug. 2023 Their farm animals — Delilah, a pig; Comet, a miniature donkey; and Star, a miniature horse — were battened down in their pens and rode out the storm safely. Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2023 The warships headed north of the Channel Islands while local shipyards literally battened down the hatches. Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 Aug. 2023 But Michigan battened down the hatches and then bulldozed the Fighting Irish, rushing for 303 yards during an evening when quarterback Shea Patterson attempted only 12 passes. Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press, 18 Aug. 2023 If capital finds its way to the enterprising in China despite all manner of barriers put in place, can anyone seriously pretend the Federal Reserve capable of battening down the proverbial capital-inflow hatches? John Tamny, Forbes, 13 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'batten down.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near batten down

Cite this Entry

“Batten down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/batten%20down. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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