Meaning of batten in English | Powered by Free Dictionary API

verb

• To become better; improve in condition, especially by feeding.

• To feed (on); to revel (in).

• To thrive by feeding; grow fat; feed oneself gluttonously.

• To thrive, prosper, or live in luxury, especially at the expense of others; fare sumptuously.

  Example: Robber barons who battened on the poor

• To gratify a morbid appetite or craving; gloat.

• To improve by feeding; fatten; make fat or cause to thrive due to plenteous feeding.

• To fertilize or enrich, as land.

noun

• A thin strip of wood used in construction to hold members of a structure together or to provide a fixing point.

• A long strip of wood, metal, fibreglass etc., used for various purposes aboard ship, especially one inserted in a pocket sewn on the sail in order to keep the sail flat.

• In stagecraft, a long pipe, usually metal, affixed to the ceiling or fly system in a theater.

• The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof.

verb

• To furnish with battens.

• To fasten or secure a hatch etc using battens.