battenn.¹

/ˈbat(ə)n/

Forms: Also 1600s battin, battoun, battune, 1700s batton.

Etymology: A variant of baton n., which in technical use preserved the earlier pronunciation, while batoon came in for the more general sense.

a. Carpentry and Building. A piece of squared timber, not more than 7 inches broad and 2½ inches thick, used for flooring, and as a support for laths, etc.; a scantling. (The length may be anything over 6 feet; shorter pieces are known as batten-ends.)

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > timber in pieces > piece of specific size

quarter1423

batten1658

wair1664

juffer1679

quarter piece1736

ufer1754

two-by-four1868

four-by-two1873

1658 Jrnl. in I. Mather Remark. Provid. (1856) 52 The battens next the chimney..were broken.

1743 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) III. 179 Three Sides in four of its..second Floor should be built with wooden Battons about three Inches broad, and two thick.

1835 Penny Cycl. III. (at cited word) Battens are never, and deals are always, above seven inches wide.

b. spec. A strip of wood carrying gas or electric lamps; esp. Theatre, one carrying a series of lamps for lighting a stage; also, such a bar used for supporting scenery, curtains, etc. Also attributive.

ΘΚΠ

society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > theatrical equipment or accessories > [noun] > stage lights > support for

batten1881

lighting tower1881

chariot1902

lighting bridge1915

perch1933

1881 Daily News 28 Dec. 2/1 The light distributed about the stage from concealed ‘battens’ and ‘ground rows’.

1902 Daily Chron. 19 July 6/1 That electric light ‘battens’ should be substituted for gas.

1920 F. Hamilton Days before Yesterday vi. 160 Thin screens of coloured silk over the gas-battens in the flies.

1921 G. B. Shaw in Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Mar. 178/2 Take your ambers out of your number one batten.

1933 P. Godfrey Back-stage i. 16 The sky-cloth..leaps to dazzling life as the ‘floods’ and ‘battens’ throw their massed beams upon its surface.

1967 Times Rev. Industry Feb. 41/3 In smaller factories management will often ‘put in batten fittings without reflectors’.

2. spec. A bar or strip (originally as in sense 1) nailed or glued across a door or anything composed of parallel boards, to hold these together, give strength, or prevent warping; a ledge, a clamp.

ΘΚΠ

the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > supporting strip of wood or metal

strop1573

strap1620

batten1663

brace1730

fillet1781

hollow-

1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 94 Shutters..framed within with Battens.

?1677 S. Primatt City & Covntry Purchaser & Builder 64 A good firm door of board..with handsome ledges or battouns for ornament.

1794 W. Felton Treat. Carriages I. 39 The battens, made of wood, or thin iron plates, which cross the boards.

1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 217 The best contrivance to preserve wood flat and sound is to strengthen the back with battens, or ledges.

3. Nautical. A narrow strip of wood nailed to various parts of the masts and spars to preserve them from chafing; a similar strip used to fasten down the edges of the tarpaulin fixed over the hatchways to keep out the water in bad weather; also, a wooden bar (in place of a cleat) from which hammocks are slung.

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > other equipment of vessel > [noun] > batten

batten1769

1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine sig. E4 The battens serve to confine the edges of the tarpaulings close down to the sides of the hatches.

1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack i. 6 We were permitted to..hoist her..up again to the battens.

1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast iii. 5 This chafing gear consists of..roundings, battens, and service of all kinds.

1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxix. 98 We took the battens from the hatches, and opened the ship.

Compounds

batten-door n. a door formed of narrow boards, held together by ‘battens’ or cross-pieces nailed to them. Cf. battened adj.²

batten holder n. (also batten lamp-holder) a lamp-holder fitted with a support which enables it to be screwed on to a flat surface.

ΚΠ

1899 Army & Navy Auxiliary C.S.L. Catal. 384 Batten lampholders. For use on low ceilings, such as lavatories, &c.

1926 J. A. Fleming Electr. Educator I. 138/1 The Batten Holder..is just a simpler..form of backplate holder.

1926 Sun Electr. Co. Catal. Electr. Supplies 328 Angle Batten Lampholders for window and showcase lighting.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

battenn.²

/ˈbat(ə)n/

Etymology: a corruption of French battant (of same meaning).

A movable bar or arm in a silk-loom which strikes in or closes the weft.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > method of > weaving other types of fabric > loom or machine for > parts of

feeler1755

batten1831

pile wire1849

cross-shed1874

1831 G. R. Porter Treat. Silk Manuf. 216 This batten is suspended by its bar from the upper framing of the loom.

1863 Morning Star 1 Jan. 6 The superior machinery containing numerous battens for making elaborate and also cheap figured goods.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2018).

battenn.³

Forms: 1600s–1800s battin, 1700s–1800s batten, 1800s batting.

Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: batten n.¹

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps a specific sense development of batten n.¹ Perhaps compare bolting n.³With the form batting compare -ing suffix³. Previous versions of the OED give the stress as: ˈbatten.

dialect.

Categories »

A bundle of straw consisting of two or more sheaves. In most of the northern and midland dialect glossaries.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online December 2020).

† battenadj.

Etymology: Compare batten v.¹

Obsolete.

= battle adj.

ΚΠ

1627 J. Speed Eng. Abridged x. §3 Which [earth] by a sea~weed..and certaine kinde of fruitfull Sea-sand, they make so ranke and batten, as is vncredible.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2021).

battenv.¹

/ˈbat(ə)n/

Etymology: First found in end of 16th cent., but may have been in dialectal use before; apparently < Old Norse batna to improve, get better, recover, < bati advantage, improvement, amelioration; cognate with Gothic gabatnan ‘to be advantaged, to be bettered, to profit,’ a neuter-passive form derived < *batan , bôt , batans ‘to be useful, to profit, to boot.’ Compare also Dutch baten to avail, yield profit, baat profit, gain, advantage, benefit, and see Grimm s.v. batten. A cognate bat in sense of ‘profit, advantage, improvement,’ although not known as a separate word in English, is implied in the derivatives batt-able , bat-ful , batt-le adjective. With all the senses compare battle v.³

a. intransitive. To grow better or improve in condition; esp. (of animals) to improve in bodily condition by feeding, to feed to advantage, thrive, grow fat.

ΘΠ

the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating by animals > feed (of animals) [verb (intransitive)] > feed to advantage

batten1631

1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre ii. iii. 21 in Wks. II It makes her fat you see. Shee battens with it.

1632 Lyly's Endimion (new ed.) iii. iii, in Sixe Court Comedies sig. D2 No, let him batten, when his tongue Once goes, A Cat is not worse strung.

1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. Q5 We eate our own, and batten more, Because we feed on no mans score.

1684 J. Dryden Prol. to Play call'd Disappointment Our Women batten well on their good Nature.

1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther i. 22 Th' etherial pastures with so fair a flock,..bat'ning on their food.

b. To feed gluttonously on, glut oneself; to gloat or revel in. (With indirect passive, to be battened on, in modern writers.)

ΘΠ

the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > sensuous pleasure > [verb (transitive)] > enter into enjoyment of > enjoy or revel in

savoura1400

delighta1425

fain1483

to have, take felicity in or to1542

forage1593

batten1604

taste1605

to take out1609

to have a gust of1658

the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > processes or manners of eating > eat via specific process [verb (transitive)] > eat voraciously

forswallowOE

gulch?c1225

afretea1350

moucha1350

glop1362

gloup1362

forglut1393

worrya1400

globbec1400

forsling1481

slonk1481

franch1519

gull1530

to eat up1535

to swallow up1535

engorge1541

gulp1542

ramp1542

slosh1548

raven1557

slop1575

yolp1579

devour1586

to throw oneself on1592

paunch1599

tire1599

glut1600

batten1604

frample1606

gobbet1607

to make a (also one's) meal on (also upon)a1616

to make a (also one's) meal of1622

gorge1631

demolish1639

gourmanda1657

guttle1685

to gawp up1728

nyam1790

gamp1805

slummock1808

annihilate1815

gollop1823

punish1825

engulf1829

hog1836

scoff1846

brosier1850

to pack away1855

wolf1861

locust1868

wallop1892

guts1934

murder1935

woof1943

pelicana1953

pig1979

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. iv. 66 Could you on this faire mountaine leaue to feede, And batten on this Moore.

1693 W. Robertson Phraseologia Generalis (new ed.) 215 To batten in's own dung, fimo volutari.

1789 J. Wolcot Subj. for Painters in Wks. (1812) II. 210 Dainty mud..In which they had been battening.

1830 Ld. Tennyson Poems 130 Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep.

1850 E. B. Browning tr. Æschylus Prometheus Bound (rev. ed.) in Poems (new ed.) I. 187 The strong carnivorous eagle, shall..batten deep Upon thy dusky liver.

1879 W. H. Dixon Brit. Cyprus viii. 78 A skeleton battened on by kites and crows.

c. figurative. To thrive, grow fat, prosper (esp. in a bad sense, at the expense or to the detriment of another); to gratify a morbid mental craving.

ΘΠ

the world > action or operation > prosperity > prosper or flourish [verb (intransitive)] > to the detriment of another

batten1607

1607 B. Jonson Volpone i. iv. sig. C3^v And with these thoughts so battens, as if Fate Would be as easily cheated on, as he.

1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper i. 56 That religion should batten with blood.

1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. iii. ii. 150 Battening vampyre-like on a People next-door to starvation.

1870 R. W. Emerson Society & Solitude x. 220 Melancholy sceptics with a taste for carrion, who batten on the hideous facts in history,—persecutions, inquisitions.

2. To grow fertile (as soil); to grow rank (as a plant).

ΘΚΠ

the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by good growth > grow well or flourish [verb (intransitive)] > grow excessively

to run away1793

batten1855

the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > soil qualities > [verb (intransitive)] > become fertile

sweeten1765

batten1855

1855 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. I. 104 That twice should batten with our blood Emathia and Hæmus' spacious plains.

1859 J. G. Holland Gold Foil xxiv. 283 A potato—a bloated tuber that battens in the muck of other times.

†3. transitive. To improve, feed to advantage, fatten up. Obsolete. (The past participle battened, belonged originally to the intransitive sense; cf. well-grown adj., well-read adj. 2a, etc.)

ΘΠ

the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > feeding animals > [verb (transitive)] > fatten

masteOE

fatc1386

frankc1440

to set up1540

fatten1552

feed1552

cram1577

engrease1583

to raise in flesh1608

adipate1623

saginate1623

batten1638

to stall to1764

tallow1765

to fat off1789

to make up1794

higglea1825

finish1841

force1847

to feed off1852

steam1947

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Advenu Vne fille bien advenuë, well growne..well batned, or batled.]

1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 21 in Justa Edouardo King We drove a-field..Batt'ning our flocks with the fresh dews of night.

1643 J. Burroughes Expos. Hosea (1652) ii. 172 They did batten themselves and suck out the Egyptian manners and customs.

1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xxii. 107 As some fell serpent..batten'd with herbs Of baneful juice to fury.

†4. To fertilize (soil). Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > fertilizing or manuring > fertilize or manure [verb (transitive)]

gooda1525

marl1528

plentify1555

fat1562

fatten1563

season1563

heart1573

manure1577

soil1593

hearten1594

remanure1598

enrich1601

teasel1610

battle1611

batten1612

bedung1649

sweeten1733

top-dress1733

top1856

side-dress1888

1612 J. Speed Theatre of Empire of Great Brit. i. xxxvi. 69/1 Others [sc. rivers]..doe so batten the ground, that the Medowes euen in the midst of Winter grow greene.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online December 2021).

battenv.²

/ˈbat(ə)n/

Etymology: < batten n.¹

1. To furnish or strengthen with battens.

ΚΠ

1675 Plymouth Rec. 147 He is to batten the walles and to make a small paire of staires.

1775 N. D. Falck Philos. Diss. Diving Vessel 26 These windlasses being battened and holed for common handspikes.

1794 W. Felton Treat. Carriages I. 34 Deal boardings, firmly battened on the inside.

1881 Mechanic §1651 The wall must be battened.

2. (chiefly Nautical). to batten down: to fasten down with battens; see batten n.¹

ΘΚΠ

society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [verb (transitive)] > put in proper place or make secure

ship17..

house1741

to batten down1823

snug1881

snug1898

1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 53 The severity of the climate having compelled them to batten down and caulk their abiding place.

c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 72 It is sometimes necessary in bad weather to put on the gratings and nail tarpaulings over them: this is called ‘battening down.’

1883 Chambers's Jrnl. 20 Batten down the hatches—quick, men.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

n.¹1658

n.²1831

n.³

adj.1627

v.¹1604

v.²1675

单词	batten
释义	battenn.¹ /ˈbat(ə)n/ Forms: Also 1600s battin, battoun, battune, 1700s batton. Etymology: A variant of baton n., which in technical use preserved the earlier pronunciation, while batoon came in for the more general sense. 1. a. Carpentry and Building. A piece of squared timber, not more than 7 inches broad and 2½ inches thick, used for flooring, and as a support for laths, etc.; a scantling. (The length may be anything over 6 feet; shorter pieces are known as batten-ends.) ΘΚΠ society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > timber in pieces > piece of specific size quarter1423 batten1658 wair1664 juffer1679 quarter piece1736 ufer1754 two-by-four1868 four-by-two1873 1658 Jrnl. in I. Mather Remark. Provid. (1856) 52 The battens next the chimney..were broken. 1743 W. Ellis London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) III. 179 Three Sides in four of its..second Floor should be built with wooden Battons about three Inches broad, and two thick. 1835 Penny Cycl. III. (at cited word) Battens are never, and deals are always, above seven inches wide. b. spec. A strip of wood carrying gas or electric lamps; esp. Theatre, one carrying a series of lamps for lighting a stage; also, such a bar used for supporting scenery, curtains, etc. Also attributive. ΘΚΠ society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > the theatre or the stage > a theatre > theatrical equipment or accessories > [noun] > stage lights > support for batten1881 lighting tower1881 chariot1902 lighting bridge1915 perch1933 1881 Daily News 28 Dec. 2/1 The light distributed about the stage from concealed ‘battens’ and ‘ground rows’. 1902 Daily Chron. 19 July 6/1 That electric light ‘battens’ should be substituted for gas. 1920 F. Hamilton Days before Yesterday vi. 160 Thin screens of coloured silk over the gas-battens in the flies. 1921 G. B. Shaw in Times Lit. Suppl. 17 Mar. 178/2 Take your ambers out of your number one batten. 1933 P. Godfrey Back-stage i. 16 The sky-cloth..leaps to dazzling life as the ‘floods’ and ‘battens’ throw their massed beams upon its surface. 1967 Times Rev. Industry Feb. 41/3 In smaller factories management will often ‘put in batten fittings without reflectors’. 2. spec. A bar or strip (originally as in sense 1) nailed or glued across a door or anything composed of parallel boards, to hold these together, give strength, or prevent warping; a ledge, a clamp. ΘΚΠ the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > supporting strip of wood or metal strop1573 strap1620 batten1663 brace1730 fillet1781 hollow- 1663 B. Gerbier Counsel to Builders 94 Shutters..framed within with Battens. ?1677 S. Primatt City & Covntry Purchaser & Builder 64 A good firm door of board..with handsome ledges or battouns for ornament. 1794 W. Felton Treat. Carriages I. 39 The battens, made of wood, or thin iron plates, which cross the boards. 1859 T. J. Gullick & J. Timbs Painting 217 The best contrivance to preserve wood flat and sound is to strengthen the back with battens, or ledges. 3. Nautical. A narrow strip of wood nailed to various parts of the masts and spars to preserve them from chafing; a similar strip used to fasten down the edges of the tarpaulin fixed over the hatchways to keep out the water in bad weather; also, a wooden bar (in place of a cleat) from which hammocks are slung. ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > other equipment of vessel > [noun] > batten batten1769 1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine sig. E4 The battens serve to confine the edges of the tarpaulings close down to the sides of the hatches. 1840 F. Marryat Poor Jack i. 6 We were permitted to..hoist her..up again to the battens. 1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast iii. 5 This chafing gear consists of..roundings, battens, and service of all kinds. 1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxix. 98 We took the battens from the hatches, and opened the ship. Compounds batten-door n. a door formed of narrow boards, held together by ‘battens’ or cross-pieces nailed to them. Cf. battened adj.² batten holder n. (also batten lamp-holder) a lamp-holder fitted with a support which enables it to be screwed on to a flat surface. ΚΠ 1899 Army & Navy Auxiliary C.S.L. Catal. 384 Batten lampholders. For use on low ceilings, such as lavatories, &c. 1926 J. A. Fleming Electr. Educator I. 138/1 The Batten Holder..is just a simpler..form of backplate holder. 1926 Sun Electr. Co. Catal. Electr. Supplies 328 Angle Batten Lampholders for window and showcase lighting. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online December 2020). battenn.² /ˈbat(ə)n/ Etymology: a corruption of French battant (of same meaning). A movable bar or arm in a silk-loom which strikes in or closes the weft. ΘΚΠ the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > weaving > method of > weaving other types of fabric > loom or machine for > parts of feeler1755 batten1831 pile wire1849 cross-shed1874 1831 G. R. Porter Treat. Silk Manuf. 216 This batten is suspended by its bar from the upper framing of the loom. 1863 Morning Star 1 Jan. 6 The superior machinery containing numerous battens for making elaborate and also cheap figured goods. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2018). battenn.³ Forms: 1600s–1800s battin, 1700s–1800s batten, 1800s batting. Origin: Of uncertain origin. Perhaps a variant or alteration of another lexical item. Etymon: batten n.¹ Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps a specific sense development of batten n.¹ Perhaps compare bolting n.³With the form batting compare -ing suffix³. Previous versions of the OED give the stress as: ˈbatten. dialect. Categories » A bundle of straw consisting of two or more sheaves. In most of the northern and midland dialect glossaries. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online December 2020). † battenadj. Etymology: Compare batten v.¹ Obsolete. = battle adj. ΚΠ 1627 J. Speed Eng. Abridged x. §3 Which [earth] by a sea~weed..and certaine kinde of fruitfull Sea-sand, they make so ranke and batten, as is vncredible. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2021). battenv.¹ /ˈbat(ə)n/ Etymology: First found in end of 16th cent., but may have been in dialectal use before; apparently < Old Norse batna to improve, get better, recover, < bati advantage, improvement, amelioration; cognate with Gothic gabatnan ‘to be advantaged, to be bettered, to profit,’ a neuter-passive form derived < batan , bôt* , batans ‘to be useful, to profit, to boot.’ Compare also Dutch baten to avail, yield profit, baat profit, gain, advantage, benefit, and see Grimm s.v. batten. A cognate bat in sense of ‘profit, advantage, improvement,’ although not known as a separate word in English, is implied in the derivatives batt-able , bat-ful , batt-le adjective. With all the senses compare battle v.³ 1. a. intransitive. To grow better or improve in condition; esp. (of animals) to improve in bodily condition by feeding, to feed to advantage, thrive, grow fat. ΘΠ the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > eating by animals > feed (of animals) [verb (intransitive)] > feed to advantage batten1631 1631 B. Jonson Bartholmew Fayre ii. iii. 21 in Wks. II It makes her fat you see. Shee battens with it. 1632 Lyly's Endimion (new ed.) iii. iii, in Sixe Court Comedies sig. D2 No, let him batten, when his tongue Once goes, A Cat is not worse strung. 1648 R. Herrick Hesperides sig. Q5 We eate our own, and batten more, Because we feed on no mans score. 1684 J. Dryden Prol. to Play call'd Disappointment Our Women batten well on their good Nature. 1687 J. Dryden Hind & Panther i. 22 Th' etherial pastures with so fair a flock,..bat'ning on their food. b. To feed gluttonously on, glut oneself; to gloat or revel in. (With indirect passive, to be battened on, in modern writers.) ΘΠ the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > sensuous pleasure > [verb (transitive)] > enter into enjoyment of > enjoy or revel in savoura1400 delighta1425 fain1483 to have, take felicity in or to1542 forage1593 batten1604 taste1605 to take out1609 to have a gust of1658 the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > eating > processes or manners of eating > eat via specific process [verb (transitive)] > eat voraciously forswallowOE gulch?c1225 afretea1350 moucha1350 glop1362 gloup1362 forglut1393 worrya1400 globbec1400 forsling1481 slonk1481 franch1519 gull1530 to eat up1535 to swallow up1535 engorge1541 gulp1542 ramp1542 slosh1548 raven1557 slop1575 yolp1579 devour1586 to throw oneself on1592 paunch1599 tire1599 glut1600 batten1604 frample1606 gobbet1607 to make a (also one's) meal on (also upon)a1616 to make a (also one's) meal of1622 gorge1631 demolish1639 gourmanda1657 guttle1685 to gawp up1728 nyam1790 gamp1805 slummock1808 annihilate1815 gollop1823 punish1825 engulf1829 hog1836 scoff1846 brosier1850 to pack away1855 wolf1861 locust1868 wallop1892 guts1934 murder1935 woof1943 pelicana1953 pig1979 1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. iv. 66 Could you on this faire mountaine leaue to feede, And batten on this Moore. View more context for this quotation 1693 W. Robertson Phraseologia Generalis (new ed.) 215 To batten in's own dung, fimo volutari. 1789 J. Wolcot Subj. for Painters in Wks. (1812) II. 210 Dainty mud..In which they had been battening. 1830 Ld. Tennyson Poems 130 Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep. 1850 E. B. Browning tr. Æschylus Prometheus Bound (rev. ed.) in Poems (new ed.) I. 187 The strong carnivorous eagle, shall..batten deep Upon thy dusky liver. 1879 W. H. Dixon Brit. Cyprus viii. 78 A skeleton battened on by kites and crows. c. figurative. To thrive, grow fat, prosper (esp. in a bad sense, at the expense or to the detriment of another); to gratify a morbid mental craving. ΘΠ the world > action or operation > prosperity > prosper or flourish [verb (intransitive)] > to the detriment of another batten1607 1607 B. Jonson Volpone i. iv. sig. C3^v And with these thoughts so battens, as if Fate Would be as easily cheated on, as he. View more context for this quotation 1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper i. 56 That religion should batten with blood. 1837 T. Carlyle French Revol. II. iii. ii. 150 Battening vampyre-like on a People next-door to starvation. 1870 R. W. Emerson Society & Solitude x. 220 Melancholy sceptics with a taste for carrion, who batten on the hideous facts in history,—persecutions, inquisitions. 2. To grow fertile (as soil); to grow rank (as a plant). ΘΚΠ the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by good growth > grow well or flourish [verb (intransitive)] > grow excessively to run away1793 batten1855 the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > soil qualities > [verb (intransitive)] > become fertile sweeten1765 batten1855 1855 R. C. Singleton tr. Virgil Georgics i, in tr. Virgil Wks. I. 104 That twice should batten with our blood Emathia and Hæmus' spacious plains. 1859 J. G. Holland Gold Foil xxiv. 283 A potato—a bloated tuber that battens in the muck of other times. †3. transitive. To improve, feed to advantage, fatten up. Obsolete. (The past participle battened, belonged originally to the intransitive sense; cf. well-grown adj., well-read adj. 2a, etc.) ΘΠ the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > feeding animals > [verb (transitive)] > fatten masteOE fatc1386 frankc1440 to set up1540 fatten1552 feed1552 cram1577 engrease1583 to raise in flesh1608 adipate1623 saginate1623 batten1638 to stall to1764 tallow1765 to fat off1789 to make up1794 higglea1825 finish1841 force1847 to feed off1852 steam1947 1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Advenu Vne fille bien advenuë, well growne..well batned, or batled.] 1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 21 in Justa Edouardo King We drove a-field..Batt'ning our flocks with the fresh dews of night. 1643 J. Burroughes Expos. Hosea (1652) ii. 172 They did batten themselves and suck out the Egyptian manners and customs. 1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xxii. 107 As some fell serpent..batten'd with herbs Of baneful juice to fury. †4. To fertilize (soil). Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > preparation of land or soil > fertilizing or manuring > fertilize or manure [verb (transitive)] gooda1525 marl1528 plentify1555 fat1562 fatten1563 season1563 heart1573 manure1577 soil1593 hearten1594 remanure1598 enrich1601 teasel1610 battle1611 batten1612 bedung1649 sweeten1733 top-dress1733 top1856 side-dress1888 1612 J. Speed Theatre of Empire of Great Brit. i. xxxvi. 69/1 Others [sc. rivers]..doe so batten the ground, that the Medowes euen in the midst of Winter grow greene. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online December 2021). battenv.² /ˈbat(ə)n/ Etymology: < batten n.¹ 1. To furnish or strengthen with battens. ΚΠ 1675 Plymouth Rec. 147 He is to batten the walles and to make a small paire of staires. 1775 N. D. Falck Philos. Diss. Diving Vessel 26 These windlasses being battened and holed for common handspikes. 1794 W. Felton Treat. Carriages I. 34 Deal boardings, firmly battened on the inside. 1881 Mechanic §1651 The wall must be battened. 2. (chiefly Nautical). to batten down: to fasten down with battens; see batten n.¹ ΘΚΠ society > travel > travel by water > other nautical operations > [verb (transitive)] > put in proper place or make secure ship17.. house1741 to batten down1823 snug1881 snug1898 1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 53 The severity of the climate having compelled them to batten down and caulk their abiding place. c1860 H. Stuart Novices or Young Seaman's Catech. (rev. ed.) 72 It is sometimes necessary in bad weather to put on the gratings and nail tarpaulings over them: this is called ‘battening down.’ 1883 Chambers's Jrnl. 20 Batten down the hatches—quick, men. This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < n.¹1658n.²1831n.³adj.1627v.¹1604v.²1675
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battenn.1

Compounds

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† battenadj.

battenv.1

battenv.2

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battenn.²

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battenv.²