Definition

1. Noun:

   • A movable barrier covering an opening: A door or cover that closes an opening in a floor, wall, or ceiling, especially on a ship or aircraft.
   • A series of parallel lines used for shading: In drawing or engraving, a group of closely spaced parallel lines used to create shading or texture.
   • The act or process of emerging from an egg: The moment or process by which a young bird, fish, or reptile breaks out of its egg.

2. Verb:

   • To produce young from an egg: To cause an egg to develop and break open, allowing the young to emerge. This can refer to the parent bird sitting on eggs or to the eggs themselves developing.
   • To draw fine parallel lines: To mark a surface with a series of closely spaced parallel lines, often for shading in art or technical drawing.
   • To devise or invent a plan: To form or conceive a plan, idea, or plot, often secretly or carefully.
   • To emerge from an egg: To break out of an eggshell at birth (used for the young animal itself).

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • The sailor climbed up through the open hatch. (The sailor used the opening in the deck.)
  • The artist used fine hatch to create shadows. (The artist used parallel lines for shading.)
  • We watched the hatch of the baby turtles. (We watched the turtles emerge from their eggs.)

• Verb:

  • The hen will hatch her eggs in about 21 days. (The hen will sit on the eggs until they break open.)
  • Hatch the background lightly to suggest texture. (Draw parallel lines on the background.)
  • They hatched a clever scheme to surprise their friend. (They devised a clever plan.)
  • The eggs will hatch tomorrow. (The young will break out of the eggs tomorrow.)

Advanced Usage

• "To hatch a plot": To secretly devise a complex plan, often with negative connotations.

  • The villains hatched a plot to steal the crown jewels.

• "Under hatches": Confined below deck on a ship; figuratively, in a state of submission or defeat.

  • After the mutiny, the officers were kept under hatches.

Variants and Related Words

• Hatchback (n): A car body style with a rear door that opens upward.

  • They bought a small hatchback for city driving.

• Hatchling (n): A newly hatched young animal.

  • The hatchlings scurried toward the sea.

• Hatchway (n): An opening in a deck or floor, often covered by a hatch.

  • The cargo was lowered through the hatchway.

Synonyms

• Brood (v): To sit on eggs to hatch them.
• Incubate (v): To maintain conditions for development, especially of eggs.
• Devise (v): To plan or invent.
• Concoct (v): To invent or fabricate, often a story or plan.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Hatch out: For an egg to open and the young to emerge.
  • The chicks are due to hatch out this week.

Related Idioms

• "Don't count your chickens before they hatch": A warning not to be overly confident about a good result before it actually happens.

  • I know the interview went well, but I won't count my chickens before they hatch.

• "Down the hatch": An informal expression said before drinking something, especially alcohol, all at once.

  • He raised his glass and said, "Down the hatch!"

Noun

1. a movable barrier covering a hatchway
2. shading consisting of multiple crossing lines
3. the production of young from an egg

Verb

1. sit on (eggs)
   • Birds brood
   • The female covers the eggs
2. draw, cut, or engrave lines, usually parallel, on metal, wood, or paper
   • hatch the sheet
3. inlay with narrow strips or lines of a different substance such as gold or silver, for the purpose of decorating
4. devise or invent
   • He thought up a plan to get rich quickly
   • no-one had ever thought of such a clever piece of software
5. emerge from the eggs
   • young birds, fish, and reptiles hatch