Booby hatch, Buttery hatch, Companion hatch, etc. See under Booby,
Buttery, etc. -- To batten down the hatches (Naut.), to lay tarpaulins
over them, and secure them with battens. -- To be under hatches, to be
confined below in a vessel; to be under arrest, or in slavery,
distress, etc.
Hatch, v. t. To close with a hatch or hatches.
'T were not amiss to keep our door hatched.
Shak.
Hatch"-boat` (hch"bt`), n. (Naut.) A vessel whose deck consists almost
wholly of movable hatches; -- used mostly in the fisheries.
Hatch"el (-l; 277), n. [OE. hechele, hekele; akin to D. hekel, G.
hechel, Dan. hegle, Sw. h‰kla, and prob. to E. hook. See Hook, and cf.
Hackle, Heckle.] An instrument with long iron teeth set in a board, for
cleansing flax or hemp from the tow, hards, or coarse part; a kind of
large comb; -- called also hackle and heckle.
Hatch"el, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hatcheled or Hatchelled (-ld); p. pr. &
vb. n. Hatcheling or Hatchelling.] [OE. hechelen, hekelen; akin to D.
hekelen, G. hecheln, Dan. hegle, Sw. h‰kla. See Hatchel, n.] 1. To draw
through the teeth of a hatchel, as flax or hemp, so as to separate the
coarse and refuse parts from the fine, fibrous parts.