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
Venting toward the peak helps keep air moving regardless of whether the fly is fully battened down or flung wide open.
—
New Atlas, 9 Dec. 2025
City had the abacus at the ready, Leeds were battening down the hatches, and then everything started to change.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 30 Nov. 2025
Netflix is battening down the hatches to prepare for a sudden deluge of streaming viewers.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Nov. 2025
Time to batten down the hatches.
—NBC news, 2 Nov. 2025
But despite the sentiment that all is well in the economy, investors are flocking to the safe-haven asset of gold—usually a sign that traders are battening down the hatches.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025
Aronson happened to snap an iPhone photo of FBI agents and New York Police Department officers battening down Epstein’s solid oak front door that wound up on the front page of The New York Times in 2019.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2025
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
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New Atlas, 9 Dec. 2025
City had the abacus at the ready, Leeds were battening down the hatches, and then everything started to change.
—Beren Cross, New York Times, 30 Nov. 2025
Netflix is battening down the hatches to prepare for a sudden deluge of streaming viewers.
—Wesley Stenzel, Entertainment Weekly, 26 Nov. 2025
Time to batten down the hatches.
—NBC news, 2 Nov. 2025
But despite the sentiment that all is well in the economy, investors are flocking to the safe-haven asset of gold—usually a sign that traders are battening down the hatches.
—Eleanor Pringle, Fortune, 2 Oct. 2025
Aronson happened to snap an iPhone photo of FBI agents and New York Police Department officers battening down Epstein’s solid oak front door that wound up on the front page of The New York Times in 2019.
—Rosemary Feitelberg, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2025
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
Cite this Entry
“Batten down.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/batten%20down. Accessed 20 Dec. 2025.
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