down the hatch

Idioms  

1. Drink up, as in “Down the hatch,” said Bill, as they raised their glasses. This phrase, often used as a toast, employs hatch in the sense of “a trap door found on ships.” [Slang; c. 1930]

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Example Sentences

But it turns out what was really unthinkable was Ferrell getting all 10 nuggets down the hatch before the Six Flags ride was over.

From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026

“Breaking wind going up the hatch was okay. It was the people below you who suffered. But going down the hatch kept you in the cloud the whole way down.”

From Washington Post • Aug. 15, 2021

Diners at Koks tend not to be timid eaters; with rare exceptions, the mealworms go down the hatch.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 11, 2018

And indeed, once, when Leo was playing in the attic, he tumbled down the hatch and hit his head.

From New York Times • Oct. 19, 2016

Uri pulled down the hatch, snipping off the daylight, then he flipped a switch and a bare lightbulb burned among the cobwebs in the ceiling.

From "Milkweed" by Jerry Spinelli