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batten¹ Definition

bat·ten (bat′'n)

noun

  1. a sawed strip of wood, flooring, etc.
  2. a strip of wood put over a seam between boards as a fastening or covering
  3. a short piece of wood or plastic inserted in a sail to keep it taut
  4. a strip of steel or wood used to fasten canvas over a ship's hatchways

Etymology: var. of baton

transitive verb

  1. to fasten with battens
  2. to supply or strengthen with battens

batten¹ Idioms

batten down the hatches

to fasten canvas over the hatches, esp. in preparing for a storm

batten² Definition

bat·ten (bat′'n)

intransitive verb

  1. to grow fat; thrive
  2. to be well fed or wealthy at another's expense

Etymology: ON batna, improve < IE base *bhad-, good > better

transitive verb

to fatten up; overfeed

batten³ Definition

bat·ten (bat′'n)

noun

in a loom, the movable frame that presses into place the threads of a woof

Etymology: Fr battant, orig. prp. of battre < OFr: see batter

batten Synonyms

batten

v.

board up, secure, tie; see fasten 1.

batten Usage Examples

Object

  • door: Line with boards to match ground floor and provide new ledge and battened doors to match existing with T hinges and Suffolk latches.

Converse of object

  • fix: Fix a batten to the floor to fill the gap under an integral garage door.

Adjective modifier

  • counter: The fixing of counter battens through any form of board is not easy.
  • wooden: The tiles can be clipped onto a 8mm diameter steel rod, rope or nailed onto a wooden batten.
  • vertical: Brick walls to the back garden can also be topped using trellis panels fixed to vertical battens.
  • horizontal: A cradle consists of vertical battens stuck to the back of the panel, through which horizontal battens are slid.
  • additional: This may require an additional counter batten to be fixed to the top or bottom of the rafter to increase the insulation space.
  • top: Fiber cement ridge tiles tend to be screwed along the outside edges into the top battens on each roof slope.

Modifies a noun

  • cavity: In this instance it is not possible to install an over fascia vent to vent the batten cavity.
  • nail: Now all steel batten nails should be supplied to the new standard.

Modifying Another Word

  • fully: Once out at sea, the crew seemed to be taking a very long time to raise her fully battened mainsails.

Noun used with modifier

  • timber: Where the timbers do not line up with your fixings, you can use a suitably sized timber batten to bridge between them.
  • ridge: The ridge tile should be neatly drilled in the center to allow the fixing to pass through into the ridge batten or board below.
  • slate: For cutting the shorter edge I used a piece of slate batten.
  • tile: Mark a 120 x 180mm wide rectangle on the underlay directly below the tile batten where the vent is to be fixed.
  • counter: This needs to be checked before the first piece of underlay or counter batten is fitted.
  • valley: This will encourage water on the main roof slope underlay to drain down the side of the valley batten.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • down: Grand tours: Batten down the hatches, it's coming on to blow.. .

Particle object:

  • hatch: Grand tours: Batten down the hatches, it's coming on to blow.. .

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • down: We have a very short window to batten down our systems.