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

The parade was set to feature more than 50 entries, but was cancelled about 45 minutes before its scheduled start when a storm front moved in, forcing community partners to batten down the hatches and secure vendor tents. —Karie Angell Luc, Chicago Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025

Italian luxury sports carmaker Ferrari usually rides out any financial storms while lesser mortals issue profit warnings and are forced to batten down the hatches to ward off trouble. —Neil Winton, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025

Despite all the tumult that’s prompted other players in this notoriously risk-averse business to batten down the hatches, BMW is proceeding with its break-glass procedure. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 4 Aug. 2025

To batten down against inclement weather, campers can install the weatherproof canopy over top the mesh roof. —New Atlas, 7 July 2025

Landon Holman and his crew were battening down the hatches and tying down canopies. —Kirsten Fiscus, The Tennessean, 2 July 2025

Tennesseans should batten down the hatches this weekend. —Joyce Orlando, Nashville Tennessean, 12 Mar. 2025

Rhymes for batten down

• chinatown
• tumbledown
• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown