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batten down the hatches
Idioms and Phrases
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]Example Sentences
The prime minister will be wanting to "get things sorted out, batten down the hatches and get things moving forward," Baroness Harman said.
Batten down the hatches: We’re facing “economic headwinds.â€
Now TV’s top prizes must batten down the hatches for a major contraction.
"Companies continued to batten down the hatches by cutting purchasing, not replacing leavers and focusing on smart inventory management to minimise any unnecessary plant costs," said Usamah Bhatti at S&P Global Market Intelligence, which compiled the survey.
While some were scrambling to batten down the hatches, however, others were taking a different approach.
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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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