Definition

1. Noun:
   • A series of fine parallel or crossed lines used in drawing or engraving to create shading or texture. This is a technique in visual art.
   • The process of an egg breaking open and a young animal emerging. This refers to the biological event of birth from an egg.

Usage and Examples

• Noun (Art Technique):

  • The artist used delicate hatching to create the illusion of shadow on the face.
  • Cross-hatching, where lines cross over each other, can produce darker tones.

• Noun (Biological Process):

  • The hatching of the chicks was observed by the science class.
  • After incubation, the hatching usually occurs within 24 hours.

Advanced Usage

• "In the hatching": Can describe the stage just before emergence from an egg.
  • The embryo in the hatching stage is very active.

Variants and Related Words

• Hatch (verb): To emerge from an egg; to devise or create (a plan or idea).
  • The eggs will hatch in about three weeks.
  • They hatched a clever scheme.
• Hatchling (noun): A newly hatched young animal.
  • The turtle hatchlings made their way to the sea.

Synonyms

• Eclosion (noun, formal/biological): The emergence of an insect from a pupal case or an embryo from an egg.
• Shading (noun, in art): The general technique of depicting light and shadow, which includes hatching as a method.

Related Phrases

• Hatching out: The act of completing the hatching process.
  • The chicks are hatching out this morning.

Noun

1. shading consisting of multiple crossing lines
2. the production of young from an egg