Batten Definition

bătn
battened, battening, battens
verb
battened, battening, battens
To become fat.
American Heritage
To furnish, fasten, or secure with battens.
Battened down the hatch during the storm.
American Heritage
To fasten with battens.
Webster's New World
To grow fat; thrive.
Webster's New World
To thrive and prosper, especially at another's expense.
American Heritage
Antonyms:
noun
battens
One of several flexible strips of wood or plastic placed in pockets at the outer edge of a sail to keep it flat.
American Heritage
A sawed strip of wood, flooring, etc.
Webster's New World
A narrow strip of wood used to fasten down the edges of the material that covers hatches in foul weather.
American Heritage
A strip of wood put over a seam between boards as a fastening or covering.
Webster's New World
A narrow strip of wood used in construction, especially to cover a seam between boards, as flooring material, or as a lath.
American Heritage
Synonyms:
idiom
batten down the hatches
  • To prepare for an imminent disaster or emergency.
American Heritage
batten down the hatches
  • to fasten canvas over the hatches, esp. in preparing for a storm
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Batten

Noun

Singular:
batten
Plural:
battens

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Batten

Origin of Batten

  • From Middle English *battenen, *batnen, of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse batna (“to grow better, improve, recover”), from Proto-Germanic *batnaną (“to become good, get better”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhAd- (“good”). Cognate with Icelandic batna (“to improve, recover”), Gothic (gabatnan, “to be noteful, profit, boot”), Dutch baten (“to avail, profit, benefit”), Old English batian (“to get better, recover”). More at better.

    From Wiktionary

  • Alteration of Middle English batent finished board or bar of wood from Old French batant wooden strip, clapper from present participle of batre to beat batter1 Noun, sense 3a and b, from French batant from Old French

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • From Middle English bataunt, batent (“finished board”), from Old French batent (“beating”)

    From Wiktionary

  • Ultimately from Old Norse batna to improve bhad- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to batten using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

batten