batten

CEFRC2

/ˈbæt(ə)n/

verb

Türkçe translations

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In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To strengthen or secure something with strips of wood or metal.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    To become better; to improve in condition; especially of animals, by feeding; to fatten up.

Examples

  • Batten doors are sadly falling out of fashion.

  • Robber barons who battened on the poor

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • [-ɾən]

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To enrich or fertilize (land, soil, etc.).

  2. To cause (an animal, etc.) to become fat or thrive through plenteous feeding; to fatten.

  3. Of land, soil, etc.: to become fertile; also, of plants: to grow lush.

More examples

In context

  • Batten down the hatches.

  • [O]thers [i.e., rivers] ariſing and running thorovv this Shire, doe ſo batten the ground, that the Medovves euen in the midſt of VVinter grovv greene; […]

  • VVe drove a field, and both together heard / VVhat time the Gray-fly vvinds her ſultry horn, / Batt'ning our flocks vvith the freſh devvs of night, […]

Synonyms

Antonyms

Quick test

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The cook told the sailors to blank down the hatches before the storm arrived.

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Nearby

Origin

verb

The verb is derived from Middle English *battenen, *batnen, of North Germanic origin, probably from Old Norse batna (“to grow better, improve, recover”), from Proto-Germanic *batnaną (“to become better, improve”) (compare Old Norse bati (“advantage, improvement”), from Proto-Germanic *batô (“improvement, recovery”)), from *bataz (“good”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰed- (“good”). Compare battle (“(adjective) improving; fattening, nutritious; fertile, fruitful; (verb) to feed or nourish; to render (land, etc.) fertile or fruitful”) (obsolete). The adjective is probably derived from the verb. Cognates * Dutch baten (“to avail, benefit, profit”) * Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌱𐌰𐍄𐌽𐌰𐌽 (gabatnan, “to benefit...