hatch
Related to hatch: Hatch Act
batten down the hatches
To prepare for a challenging situation. While this originated as a nautical phrase, it is now used for any sort of imminent problem. There's a tornado coming—batten down the hatches! My mother-in-law is coming to town this weekend, so I better batten down the hatches.
See also: batten, down, hatch
booby hatch
A derogatory slang term for a hospital for the mentally ill or unstable. If you keep saying crazy things like that, they're going to throw you in the booby hatch.
See also: booby, hatch
count your chickens before they hatch
To celebrate, plan, or begin to take advantage of a potential positive future outcome before it has happened or been accomplished. Often issued as a warning and preceded by "don't." You're preparing your acceptance speech before even being nominated? Don't count your chickens before they hatch. Why are you begging to drive my car to school tomorrow when you still need to take your license test? Don't count your chickens before they hatch, babe!
See also: before, chicken, count, hatch
count your chickens before they're hatched
To celebrate, plan, or begin to take advantage of a potential positive future outcome before it has happened or been accomplished. Often issued as a warning and preceded by "don't." You're preparing your acceptance speech before even being nominated? Don't count your chickens before they're hatched. Why are you begging to drive my car to school tomorrow when you still need to take your license test? Don't count your chickens before they're hatched, babe!
See also: before, chicken, count, hatch
Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
proverb Don't make plans based on future events, outcomes, or successes that might not come to pass. When my mom heard that I was preparing my campaign before even being nominated, she warned me, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Why are you begging to drive my car to school tomorrow when you still need to take your license test in the morning? Don't count your chickens before they hatch, babe!
See also: before, chicken, count
Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
proverb Don't make plans based on future events, outcomes, or successes that might not come to pass. When my mom heard that I was preparing my campaign before even being nominated, she warned me, "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched." Why are you begging to drive my car to school tomorrow when you still need to take your license test in the morning? Don't count your chickens before they're hatched, babe!
See also: before, chicken, count
down the hatch
Down one's throat. This phrase is usually said before one drinks something (often something that has an especially foul or strong taste). "Well, down the hatch!" Ellen said before taking her cough medicine. Shots are on me. Down the hatch, girls!
See also: down, hatch
hatch out
1. Literally, to be born by emerging from an egg. The class gathered around as the baby duckling hatched out of its shell.
2. To devise or organize something, especially in secret. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "hatch" and "out." We hatched out a plan to steal the diamonds from the museum. We hatched the scheme out behind the boss's back.
See also: hatch, out
hatches, matches, and despatches
dated A phrase once used to refer to the sections of newspapers that discussed births ("hatches"), weddings ("matches)", and deaths ("despatches," a variant spelling of "dispatches"). No, those two did get married—I saw it in the hatches, matches, and despatches.
See also: and
nuthatch
old-fashioned slang A derogatory and offensive term for a psychiatric hospital or insane asylum. "Nut" is a derogatory slang term meaning "a crazy person." My great aunt Lidia apparently got locked up in a nuthatch when she was a teenager because she said she could commune with ghosts. I can't go to the police about it! They'd throw me in the nuthatch if I came to them with such an unbelievable story.
under the hatches
Under the deck of a boat. In modern usage, it most commonly refers to the engine of a powerboat. Their new model boasts a 9-liter engine under the hatches capable of producing 860 horsepower at 6800 RPM.
See also: hatch
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
batten down the hatches
Fig. to prepare for difficult times. (From a nautical expression meaning, literally, to seal the hatches against the arrival of a storm. The word order is fixed.) Here comes that contentious Mrs. Jones. Batten down the hatches! Batten down the hatches, Congress is in session again.
See also: batten, down, hatch
count one's chickens before they hatch
Fig. to plan how to utilize good results of something before those results have occurred. (The same as Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.) You may be disappointed if you count your chickens before they hatch.
See also: before, chicken, count, hatch
Down the hatch.
I am about to drink this.; Let's all drink up. (Said as one is about to take a drink, especially of something bad-tasting or potent. Also used as a jocular toast.) Bob said, "Down the hatch," and drank the whiskey in one gulp. Let's toast the bride and groom. Down the hatch!
See also: down, hatch
hatch an animal out
to aid in releasing an animal from an egg. They hatched lots of ducks out at the hatchery. The farmer hatched out hundreds of chicks each month.
See also: animal, hatch, out
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
batten down the hatches
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]
See also: batten, down, hatch
count one's chickens before they hatch
Make plans based on events that may or may not happen. For example, You might not win the prize and you've already spent the money? Don't count your chickens before they hatch! or I know you have big plans for your consulting business, but don't count your chickens. This expression comes from Aesop's fable about a milkmaid carrying a full pail on her head. She daydreams about buying chickens with the milk's proceeds and becoming so rich from selling eggs that she will toss her head at suitors; she then tosses her head and spills the milk. Widely translated from the original Greek, the story was the source of a proverb and was used figuratively by the 16th century. Today it is still so well known that it often appears shortened and usually in negative cautionary form ( don't count your chickens).
See also: before, chicken, count, hatch
down the hatch
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]
See also: down, hatch
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
not count your chickens
ornot count your chickens before they are hatched
If you say that you are not counting your chickens (before they are hatched), you mean that you are not making plans for the future yet because you do not know for certain how a particular situation will develop. If we get through to the next stage, we'll be competing against some top-class sides so I'm not counting my chickens. When dealing with important financial arrangements, never count your chickens before they are hatched. Note: You can also use the proverb don't count your chickens before they're hatched from which this expression comes. The contract is not signed yet. Don't count your chickens before they're hatched.
See also: chicken, count, not
down the hatch
INFORMALIf food or drink goes down the hatch, someone eats or drinks it. A record £4.4 billion worth of chocolate and sweets went down the hatch last year. She raised the shell to her lips, closed her eyes and down the hatch went the oyster. Note: People sometimes say down the hatch! just before drinking an alcoholic drink. Here's a glass for you. Down the hatch! Note: In the 18th century, this expression was used as a toast in the navy. A hatch is an opening in the deck of a ship, through which people and goods can pass.
See also: down, hatch
batten down the hatches
If you batten down the hatches, you prepare for a difficult situation by doing everything you can to protect yourself. While most companies are battening down the hatches, fearing recession, Blenheim is leading an assault on the US market. Banks seem to be battening down the hatches in anticipation of further trouble. Note: Battens are strips of wood used for fastening things down. Hatches are openings in the deck of a ship, or the wooden flaps which cover the openings.
See also: batten, down, hatch
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
batten down the hatches
prepare for a difficulty or crisis.Batten down the hatches was originally a nautical term meaning ‘make a ship's hatches secure with gratings and tarpaulins’ in expectation of stormy weather.
1998 Oldie They endured the hard pounding of the Seventies, when Labour battened down the hatches, and soldiered through the follies of the early Eighties.
See also: batten, down, hatch
down the hatch
used to express friendly feelings towards your companions before drinking. informalSee also: down, hatch
hatches, matches, and despatches
the births, marriages, and deaths columns in a newspaper. humorous, datedSee also: and
under (the) hatches
1 below deck in a ship. 2 concealed from public knowledge.See also: hatch
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
ˌbatten down the ˈhatches
prepare yourself for a period of difficulty or trouble: Hollywood is battening down the hatches in expectation of a strike by actors and writers this summer.A batten is a long piece of wood which was used to hold down strong material in order to cover a ship’s hatches (= openings in the deck of a boat leading to the lower level) in a storm.See also: batten, down, hatch
not count your ˈchickens (before they’re ˈhatched)
not be too confident of success until it actually happens: She said she was certain to be offered a part in the play, but I told her not to count her chickens, as a lot of other people wanted the same part.See also: chicken, count, not
ˌdown the ˈhatch
(informal) said before you drink alcohol: He raised his glass, said ‘Down the hatch’, and then drank it all at once!This is thought to come from ships, where goods go down through the hatch (= an opening in the floor) to be stored for the journey, as if they are being swallowed.See also: down, hatch
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
booby hatch
(ˈbubi...) n. a mental hospital. I was afraid they would send me to the booby hatch.
See also: booby, hatch
Down the hatch!
exclam. Let’s drink it! (see also hatch.) Down the hatch! Have another?
See also: down
hatch
n. the mouth. (see also Down the hatch!.) Pop this in your hatch.
nuthatch
verbSee nuthouse
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
down the hatch
Slang Drink up. Often used as a toast.
See also: down, hatch
batten down the hatches
To prepare for an imminent disaster or emergency.
See also: batten, down, hatch
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
batten down the hatches, to
To get ready for trouble. A nautical term dating from the early nineteenth century, it signified preparing for bad weather by fastening down the battens, strips of wood nailed to various parts of masts and spars, and fastening tarpaulins over the ship’s hatchways (doorways and other openings). The term began to be used figuratively as preparing for any emergency by the late nineteenth century. See also clear the decks.
See also: batten, down
don't count your chickens before they hatch
Don’t spend or try to profit from something not yet earned. This expression comes from Aesop’s fable about a milkmaid carrying a full pail on her head who daydreams about selling the milk for eggs that will hatch into chickens and make her so rich she will toss her head at offers of marriage; but she prematurely tosses her head and spills the milk. It was, like so many Greek fables, translated into modern European languages and passed on. The expression was in use figuratively by the sixteenth century and appeared in proverb collections soon afterward.
See also: before, chicken, count, hatch
down the hatch
Drink it down, a toast for drinkers. The allusion is to the naval hatch, an opening in a ship’s deck through which cargo, passengers, or crew can pass. The transfer to the human mouth or throat was made long before this slangy expression came into use. John Heywood’s 1546 proverb collection included, “It is good to haue a hatche before the durre,” meaning it is good to have some impediment to speaking before one opens one’s mouth, so as to have time to reflect. The metaphor also appears in Stephen Gosson’s The Schoole of Abuse (1579): “I wish that every rebuker shoulde place a hatch before the door.” The drinker’s meaning, however, is a twentieth-century expression, first appearing in print in the early 1930s, as in Malcolm Lowry’s Ultramarine (1933): “Well, let’s shoot a few whiskies down the hatch.”
See also: down, hatch
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- batten down the hatches
- batten down the hatches, to
- be at the helm
- any port in a storm
- port
- at the helm
- at the helm/tiller
- helm
- take the helm
- sail against the wind