batten down the hatches

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Prepare for trouble, as in Here comes the boss—batten down the hatches. This term originated in the navy, where it signified preparing for a storm by fastening down canvas over doorways and hatches (openings) with strips of wood called battens. [Late 1800s]

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The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.

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Words nearby batten down the hatches

battel, battels, battement, batten, Battenburg, batten down the hatches, Batten-Mayou disease, batten plate, Batten's disease, batter, batter board

How to use batten down the hatches in a sentence

France 24 is providing live, round-the-clock coverage of both scenes as they progress.
LIVE Coverage of the Paris Terror Attacks||January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Clad in a blue, striped button-down, a silver watch adorning his left wrist, Huckabee beams on the cover.
Huckabee 2016: Bend Over and Take It Like a Prisoner!|Olivia Nuzzi|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
That article noted that the F-35 does not currently have the ability to down-link live video to ground troops,.
Pentagon Misfires in Stealth Jet Scandal|Dave Majumdar|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
A grand juror in the Ferguson case is suing to be able to explain exactly what went down in the courtroom.
Politicians Only Love Journalists When They're Dead|Luke O’Neil|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Sands was involved in a scandalous-for-the-time romance with the carpenter and there were rumors she was pregnant with his child.
New York’s Most Tragic Ghost Loves Minimalist Swedish Fashion|Nina Strochlic|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The bride elect rushes up to him, and so they both step down to the foot-lights.
Physiology of The Opera|John H. Swaby (AKA "Scrici")
I take the Extream Bells, and set down the six Changes on them thus.
Tintinnalogia, or, the Art of Ringing|Richard Duckworth and Fabian Stedman
His wife stood smiling and waving, the boys shouting, as he disappeared in the old rockaway down the sandy road.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
So he bore down on the solemn declaration that she stood face to face with a prison term for perjury.
The Bondboy|George W. (George Washington) Ogden
Do not the widow's tears run down the cheek, and her cry against him that causeth them to fall?
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version|Various

batten down the hatches

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