battens down the hatches
Secures for storm
Battens down the hatches means to prepare for trouble or difficulty.
The phrase comes from securing a ship's hatch covers with wooden strips (battens) before a storm.
Now used figuratively for any serious preparation: With the recession looming, companies are battening down the hatches.
- hatchOpening in deck or floor
- weather the stormEndure a difficult period
- rough seasTurbulent ocean conditions
- heavy weatherStormy, dangerous conditions
- safeguardPrecaution against harm
fortify · insulate · brace · rigging · steel oneself · defend · gird one's loins · take cover · storm cellar · anchor · anticipate · shield · reinforce · stockpile · emergency supplies · bulkhead · all hands on deck · hunker down
battens down the hatchesburies one's head in the sand
Willful ignorance of danger
fiddles while Rome burns · relaxes · takes one's eye off the ball · takes it easy · rests on one's laurels
batten, battens, battened, battening, downed, downer, hatches, hatched, hatching