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View synonyms for hatch

hatch

1

[ hach ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to bring forth (young) from the egg.

    Synonyms: brood, incubate

  2. to cause young to emerge from (the egg) as by brooding or incubating.
  3. to bring forth or produce; devise; invent; contrive; concoct:

    to hatch a scheme.

    Synonyms: plot, plan



verb (used without object)

  1. to be hatched.
  2. to brood.

noun

  1. the act of hatching.
  2. something that is hatched, as a brood.

hatch

2

[ hach ]

noun

  1. Nautical.
    1. Also called hatchway. an opening, usually rectangular, in the deck through which passengers can pass, cargo can be loaded or unloaded, etc.
    2. the cover over such an opening.
  2. an opening that serves as a doorway or window in the floor or roof of a building.
  3. the cover over such an opening.
  4. Slang. the throat as used for drinking:

    His usual toast was a muttered “Down the hatch!”

  5. Aeronautics. an opening or door in an aircraft.
  6. the lower half of a divided door, both parts of which can be opened separately.
  7. a small door, grated opening, or serving counter in or attached to the wall of a building, room, etc., as for a merchant's stall.
  8. a bin or compartment built into a confined space, especially a deep storage bin.
  9. Automotive.
    1. the cargo area in a hatchback.
    2. Also called liftgate. the hinged lid of a hatchback that swings upward to provide access to the cargo area.
  10. anything resembling a hatch.

hatch

3

[ hach ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to mark with lines, especially closely set parallel lines, as for shading in drawing or engraving.

noun

  1. a shading line in drawing or engraving.

hatch

1

/ hætʃ /

noun

  1. a covering for a hatchway
    1. short for hatchway
    2. a door in an aircraft or spacecraft
  2. Also calledserving hatch an opening in a wall between a kitchen and a dining area
  3. the lower half of a divided door
  4. a sluice or sliding gate in a dam, dyke, or weir
  5. down the hatch slang.
    (used as a toast) drink up!
  6. under hatches
    1. below decks
    2. out of sight
    3. brought low; dead
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


hatch

2

/ hætʃ /

noun

  1. informal.
    short for hatchback
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

hatch

3

/ hætʃ /

verb

  1. art to mark (a figure, shade, etc) with fine parallel or crossed lines to indicate shading Compare hachure
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

hatch

4

/ hætʃ /

verb

  1. to cause (the young of various animals, esp birds) to emerge from the egg or (of young birds, etc) to emerge from the egg
  2. to cause (eggs) to break and release the fully developed young or (of eggs) to break and release the young animal within
  3. tr to contrive or devise (a scheme, plot, etc)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. the act or process of hatching
  2. a group of newly hatched animals
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈhatching, noun
  • ˈhatchable, adjective
  • ˈhatcher, noun
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Other Words From

  • hatcha·ble adjective
  • hatcha·bili·ty noun
  • hatcher noun
  • unhatch·a·bili·ty noun
  • un·hatcha·ble adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of hatch1

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English hacchen. hetchen; akin to German hecken “(of birds) to mate, incubate, hatch”

Origin of hatch2

First recorded before 1100; Middle English hacche, hache, hatche “lower half of a divided door, small door, gate,” Old English hæcc, hæc “grating, hatch, half-gate”; akin to Dutch hek “fence, gate, railing”

Origin of hatch3

First recorded in 1470–80; earlier hache, from Middle French hacher “to cut up,” derivative of hache “ax”; hatchet
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Word History and Origins

Origin of hatch1

Old English hæcc; related to Middle High German heck, Dutch hek gate

Origin of hatch2

C15: from Old French hacher to chop, from hache hatchet

Origin of hatch3

C13: of Germanic origin; compare Middle High German hecken to mate (used of birds), Swedish häcka to hatch, Danish hække
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. batten down the / one's hatches,
    1. Nautical. prepare for stormy weather: used as a command.
    2. to prepare to meet an emergency or face a great difficulty:

      The government must batten down its hatches before the election.

More idioms and phrases containing hatch

see batten down the hatches ; count one's chickens before they hatch ; down the hatch .
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Example Sentences

Like everything on the Row of Life, Madsen’s 20-foot, self-righting rowboat, the food was stored in watertight hatches built around her seat, where for the next three months she planned to spend 12 hours a day rowing west.

Plans indicate an emergency egress shaft and a small hatch, but it is unclear whether passengers escaping a fire or breakdown would be expected to climb stairs or even a ladder.

While convenient on long off-road trips, swing-outs add a lot of weight and complicate the process of opening the rear hatch.

The plan is to destroy the nest, hopefully before hornets that can start nests of their own hatch.

That battening of the hatches against other viral invaders is different from the specific kind of immunity that comes from making antibodies against a particular virus.

The worst is probably to avoid paying taxes on the money and go to prison, like Survivor season one winner Richard Hatch.

“I would be proud, but my late mother said, ‘Don’t count your eggs, son, until they hatch,” he said.

Two of the victims, 15-year-old Andrew Fryberg and 14-year-old Nate Hatch, were cousins of the shooter, according to relatives.

So far, it is a small group, including just McCain, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Orrin Hatch of Utah.

The plan unveiled last January by Hatch, Coburn and Burr is a good foundation.

At that moment there came up the fore-hatch a yell, as if from the throat of a North American savage.

Fortunately, the hatch had been shut, and the deluge of water had not gone into the cabin, or the boat must have foundered.

The first mate went to look into it and found Liosha standing enraptured at the hatch looking down upon a free fight.

A very important fitting is a hatch by which the cockpit can be completely covered in in heavy weather.

The sailor sprung down the companion hatch, where he found the hawser coiled against the door, and heard Newton struggling inside.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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