BATTEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does batten mean? 

• BATTEN (noun)
  The noun BATTEN has 2 senses:

1. stuffing made of rolls or sheets of cotton wool or synthetic fiber

2. a strip fixed to something to hold it firm

  Familiarity information: BATTEN used as a noun is rare.

• BATTEN (verb)
  The verb BATTEN has 2 senses:

1. furnish with battens

2. secure with battens

  Familiarity information: BATTEN used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BATTEN (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Stuffing made of rolls or sheets of cotton wool or synthetic fiber

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

batten; batting

Hypernyms ("batten" is a kind of...):

stuffing (padding put in mattresses and cushions and upholstered furniture)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A strip fixed to something to hold it firm

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("batten" is a kind of...):

strip (thin piece of wood or metal)

Derivation:

batten (secure with battens)

batten (furnish with battens)

• BATTEN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they batten    ... he / she / it battens   
Past simple: battened   
Past participle: battened   
-ing form: battening   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Furnish with battens

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

batten; batten down; secure

Context example:

batten ships

Hypernyms (to "batten" is one way to...):

beef up; fortify; strengthen (make strong or stronger)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

batten (a strip fixed to something to hold it firm)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Secure with battens

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

batten down a ship's hatches

Hypernyms (to "batten" is one way to...):

beef up; fortify; strengthen (make strong or stronger)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

batten (a strip fixed to something to hold it firm)

 Context examples 

“You'll perhaps batten down your hatches till you're spoke to, my friend,” cried Silver truculently to this speaker.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

This was the being I was helping to transfer to London, where, perhaps, for centuries to come he might, amongst its teeming millions, satiate his lust for blood, and create a new and ever-widening circle of semi-demons to batten on the helpless.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

If not, the men were lying drunk below, where I might batten them down, perhaps, and do what I chose with the ship.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)