as in doors
a barrier by which an entry is closed and opened
watertight hatches provided access through the ship's bulkheads
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Recent Examples of hatches
Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026
During this stage of the descent, Orion will be engulfed in a fireball, flickering plasma igniting outside the window hatches.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 9 Apr. 2026
On the shipwreck the hatches are fastened properly.
—Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026
The closeout crew had closed the first of two hatches that need to be shut tight before launch.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2026
Assisting them will be a five-person team known as the closeout crew, which is responsible for closing and performing leak checks on Orion's hatches and are the last people the astronauts see before launch.
—Miles Doran, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2026
Soon, the closeout crew will close the crew module and the exterior hatches on the launch abort system, which is a lengthy, careful process.
—Charlie Gile, NBC news, 1 Apr. 2026
The smugglers let him aboard, and the boy clambered around hatches that, if opened, would reveal dozens of felonies worth of illicit cargo.
—Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 17 Mar. 2026
Leeds battened down the hatches.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2026
Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
With time running out to beat Russia, NASA hatches an 11th-hour plan to replace a veteran astronaut (Duvall) with a civilian geologist (Caan) for a one-way moon trip using a modified Gemini spacecraft.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 30 Mar. 2026
After successfully impersonating Sarah Kim as a customer in luxury shops across the city, Mi-jeong hatches a plan to kill Sarah Kim and take her place.
—Kayti Burt, Time, 13 Feb. 2026
With her daughter back in Madrid waiting for a solid offer for the apartment, Maria hatches a plan.
—G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2026
Feeling bored, resentful and trapped by domestic life, Hedda hatches a plan to destroy her husband’s potential career rival, Eilert Lovberg, who happens to be her ex-lover.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Feb. 2026
In desperation, Yoo hatches a chilling yet darkly logical plan.
—Robert Lang, Deadline, 6 Jan. 2026
In the holiday rom-com, a single mother (Alexandra Breckenridge) hatches a scheme to dress up as an old man and get a job at an upscale ski resort to snag her daughter discount snowboard lessons.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
There’s Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), queen of the female gang the Forty Elephants, who’s sick of stealing from the poor and hatches a scheme to yoink valuables from the Queen of England.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
Noun
At the time, his high school was on the brink of shutting down—but the then-teenager battened down the hatches, studied hard, and became class valedictorian.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026
During this stage of the descent, Orion will be engulfed in a fireball, flickering plasma igniting outside the window hatches.
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 9 Apr. 2026
On the shipwreck the hatches are fastened properly.
—Tribune News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2026
The closeout crew had closed the first of two hatches that need to be shut tight before launch.
—Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Apr. 2026
Assisting them will be a five-person team known as the closeout crew, which is responsible for closing and performing leak checks on Orion's hatches and are the last people the astronauts see before launch.
—Miles Doran, CBS News, 1 Apr. 2026
Soon, the closeout crew will close the crew module and the exterior hatches on the launch abort system, which is a lengthy, careful process.
—Charlie Gile, NBC news, 1 Apr. 2026
The smugglers let him aboard, and the boy clambered around hatches that, if opened, would reveal dozens of felonies worth of illicit cargo.
—Jack Crosbie, Rolling Stone, 17 Mar. 2026
Leeds battened down the hatches.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2026
Verb
Trump’s obsession with gold has led his critics to compare him to the Bond villain Goldfinger, a bullion dealer who hatches a plan to irradiate the gold in Fort Knox in order to increase the value of his own supply.
—Jennifer Wilson, New Yorker, 4 May 2026
With time running out to beat Russia, NASA hatches an 11th-hour plan to replace a veteran astronaut (Duvall) with a civilian geologist (Caan) for a one-way moon trip using a modified Gemini spacecraft.
—Jeff Spry, Space.com, 30 Mar. 2026
After successfully impersonating Sarah Kim as a customer in luxury shops across the city, Mi-jeong hatches a plan to kill Sarah Kim and take her place.
—Kayti Burt, Time, 13 Feb. 2026
With her daughter back in Madrid waiting for a solid offer for the apartment, Maria hatches a plan.
—G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2026
Feeling bored, resentful and trapped by domestic life, Hedda hatches a plan to destroy her husband’s potential career rival, Eilert Lovberg, who happens to be her ex-lover.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 Feb. 2026
In desperation, Yoo hatches a chilling yet darkly logical plan.
—Robert Lang, Deadline, 6 Jan. 2026
In the holiday rom-com, a single mother (Alexandra Breckenridge) hatches a scheme to dress up as an old man and get a job at an upscale ski resort to snag her daughter discount snowboard lessons.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 23 Dec. 2025
There’s Mary Carr (Erin Doherty), queen of the female gang the Forty Elephants, who’s sick of stealing from the poor and hatches a scheme to yoink valuables from the Queen of England.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 1 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hatches
Noun
-
All the doors were opened for them, and that’s what allowed the project to move forward in a concrete way.—
Elsa Keslassy,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Trust what’s happening behind closed doors, Cancer.—
Valerie Mesa,
PEOPLE,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Hating cops also spawns ridiculous protests, like the ones that called for police to be defunded.—
Wendy Murphy,
Boston Herald,
13 Apr. 2026
-
The energy of the collision spawns many new particles, including—sometimes—W bosons.—
Clara Moskowitz,
Scientific American,
10 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
But today, the home sits almost unbearably silent.—
Alaa Elassar,
CNN Money,
10 May 2026
-
Royals Hall of Famer Willie Wilson sits atop that list, with 13 during his career.—
Jaylon Thompson
May 9,
Kansas City Star,
10 May 2026
Verb
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Veteran model Eva Herzigova is pictured in a sculptural skirt suit, while Liu Wen broods in a puffy leather bomber jacket.—
Miles Socha,
Footwear News,
3 Sep. 2019
Verb
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The oak apple gall wasp Amphibolips spp female lays an egg inside the tissue of an oak leaf inside which the larvae will hatch.—
Pamm Cooper,
Hartford Courant,
9 May 2026
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The blooms also attract the parasitoid wasp that lays its eggs on tomato hornworms.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
9 May 2026
Verb
-
All the bullpen chaos and the name-switching and injuries and only one off day really in this whole stretch … the starters getting deep into games is what really sets that up to be possible to happen, in my eyes.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
9 May 2026
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View gallery - 7 images Rising to a height of 78 m (256 ft), this extraordinary tower sets a new record as Denmark's tallest wooden building – and is one of the tallest in the world too.—
Adam Williams
May 09,
New Atlas,
9 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hatches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hatches. Accessed 12 May. 2026.
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