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batten
batten.
1. A thin iron bar used to secure the tarpaulin cover over a cargo hatch of a merchant ship. Several of them were used on each cover. When they were placed in position they were held securely in place by wedges under the batten-cleats—metal right-angled brackets welded on to the coaming of cargo hatches—and the hatches were said to be battened down (see also next entry). 2. A thin wooden or plastic strip which fits into a long, narrow pocket in the leech of a Bermudan mainsail in yachts to hold the leech out when sailing. The name is also given to the long, thin strips of bamboo which are inserted in lateen sails to hold the form of the sail. These bamboo battens are also used in the sails of the junk rig. |
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Cite this article
"batten." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "batten." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-batten.html "batten." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-batten.html |
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Batten
Batten, length of timber used to stiffen a surface of canvas or boards, as by ‘sandwich-battening’ a cloth (fixing the upper and lower edges between pairs of battens screwed together) or by ‘battening-out’ a section of boards or a run of flats with crossbars. A light batten, known in America as a strip light or border light, is a horizontal trough containing a row of lights, often divided into compartments (and then known as a compartment batten), each containing a lamp, reflector, and coloured filter.
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PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Batten." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Batten." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Batten.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Batten." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-Batten.html |
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batten
bat·ten / ˈbatn/ • n. a long, flat strip of squared wood or metal used to hold something in place or as a fastening against a wall. ∎ a strip of wood or plastic used to stiffen and extend the leech of a sail. PHRASES: batten down the hatches ∎ prepare for a difficulty or crisis. bat·ten2 • v. [intr.] (batten on) thrive or prosper at the expense of (someone): multinational monopolies batten on the working classes. |
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Cite this article
"batten." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "batten." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-batten005.html "batten." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-batten005.html |
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batten
batten.
1. Vertical board in a door secured to horizontal boards called ledges (see Door). 2. Piece of squared timber used for flooring. 3. Small squared timbers used to provide fixings for tiles or slates on roofs, or to support laths for plastering. 4. Any thin, narrow strip of wood, e.g. used to cover joints between boards cladding a framed building. |
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Cite this article
JAMES STEVENS CURL. "batten." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JAMES STEVENS CURL. "batten." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-batten.html JAMES STEVENS CURL. "batten." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-batten.html |
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batten
batten2 †improve in condition XVI; grow fat, thrive (on) XVII. — ON. batna improve, f. Gmc. *bat-; see BETTER, -EN5.
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "batten." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "batten." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-batten1.html T. F. HOAD. "batten." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-batten1.html |
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batten
batten1 strip of wood. XV. Earliest forms bata(u)nt, -ent. — OF. batant, sb. use of prp. of batre beat (see BATTERY).
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Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "batten." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "batten." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-batten.html T. F. HOAD. "batten." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-batten.html |
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batten
batten
•baton, batten, fatten, flatten, harmattan, Manhattan, Mountbatten, paten, patten, pattern, platen, Saturn, slattern
•Shackleton • Appleton
•Hampton, Northampton, Rockhampton, Southampton, Wolverhampton
•Canton, lantern, Scranton
•Langton, plankton
•Clapton
•Aston, pastern
•Gladstone
•Caxton, Paxton
•capstan • Ashton • phytoplankton
•Akhenaten, Akhetaten, Aten, Barton, carton, Dumbarton, hearten, Parton, smarten, spartan, tartan
•Grafton
•Carlton, Charlton
•Charleston • kindergarten
•Aldermaston
•Breton, jetton, Sowetan, threaten, Tibetan
•lectern
•Elton, melton, Skelton
•Denton, Fenton, Kenton, Lenten, Trenton
•Repton
•Avestan, Midwestern, northwestern, Preston, southwestern, western
•sexton
•Clayton, Deighton, Leighton, Paton, phaeton, Satan, straighten, straiten
•Paignton • Maidstone
•beaten, Beaton, Beeton, Cretan, Keaton, neaten, Nuneaton, overeaten, sweeten, uneaten, wheaten
•chieftain
•eastern, northeastern, southeastern
•browbeaten • weatherbeaten
•bitten, bittern, Britain, Briton, Britten, handwritten, hardbitten, kitten, Lytton, mitten, smitten, underwritten, witan, written
•Clifton
•Milton, Shilton, Stilton, Wilton
•Middleton • singleton • simpleton
•Clinton, Linton, Minton, Quinton, Winton
•cistern, Liston, piston, Wystan
•brimstone • Winston • Kingston
•Addington • Eddington
•Workington
•Arlington, Darlington
•skeleton
•Ellington, wellington
•exoskeleton
•cosmopolitan, megalopolitan, metropolitan, Neapolitan
•Burlington • Hamilton • badminton
•lamington • Germiston • Penistone
•Bonington • Orpington • Samaritan
•Carrington, Harrington
•sacristan • Festschriften
•Sherrington • typewritten
•Warrington • puritan • Fredericton
•Lexington • Occitan • Washington
•Whittington • Huntington
•Galveston • Livingstone
•Kensington
•Blyton, brighten, Brighton, Crichton, enlighten, frighten, heighten, lighten, righten, tighten, titan, triton, whiten
•begotten, cotton, forgotten, ill-gotten, misbegotten, rotten
•Compton, Crompton
•wanton • Longton
•Boston, postern
•boughten, chorten, foreshorten, Laughton, Morton, Naughton, Orton, quartan, quartern, shorten, tauten, torten, Wharton
•Alton, Dalton, Galton, saltern, Walton
•Taunton • Allston • Launceston
•croton, Dakotan, Minnesotan, oaten, verboten
•Bolton, Doulton, molten
•Folkestone • Royston
•Luton, newton, rambutan, Teuton
•Houston • Fulton
•button, glutton, Hutton, mutton
•sultan
•doubleton, subaltern
•fronton • Augustan • Dunstan
•tungsten • quieten • Pinkerton
•charlatan • Wollaston • Palmerston
•Edmonton • automaton • Sheraton
•Geraldton • Chatterton • Betterton
•Chesterton • Athelstan
•burton, curtain, uncertain
•Hurston
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Cite this article
"batten." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "batten." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 12, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-batten.html "batten." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 12, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-batten.html |
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