batten

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. v. To become fat.
2. v. To thrive and prosper, especially at another's expense: "[She] battens like a leech on the lives of famous people, . . . a professional retailer of falsehoods” ( George F. Will).
3. v. To fatten; overfeed.
4. n. Nautical One of several flexible strips of wood or plastic placed in pockets at the outer edge of a sail to keep it flat.
5. n. Nautical A narrow strip of wood used to fasten down the edges of the material that covers hatches in foul weather.
6. n. Chiefly British A narrow strip of wood used especially for flooring.
7. v. Nautical To furnish, fasten, or secure with battens: battened down the hatch during the storm.
8. idiom. batten down the hatches To prepare for an imminent disaster or emergency.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. To become better; improve in condition (especially by feeding); grow fat; thrive.
2. To feed gluttonously; figuratively, gratify a morbid appetite or craving; gloat: absolutely, or with on or upon.
3. Figuratively, to thrive; prosper; live in ease and luxury, especially at the expense or to the detriment of others: with on, formerly also with: as, to batten on ill-gotten gains.
4. To improve by feeding; fatten; make fat or cause to thrive with plenteous feeding.
5. To fertilize or enrich (the soil).
6. n. A Strip or scantling of wood. Specifically— A bar nailed across parallel boards (as those forming a door, shutter, etc.) to keep them together.
7. n. In com., squared timber of 6 or more feet in length, 7 inches in width, and 2½ inches in thickness, used in carpentry and housebuilding for various purposes. Pieces less than 6 feet long are known as batten-ends.
8. n. In weaving, the beam for striking the weft home; a lathe.
9. To form or fasten with battens.
10. n. A log less than 11 inches in diameter at the small end.

Wiktionary

1. v. intransitive To become better; improve in condition, especially by feeding.
2. v. intransitive To feed on; to revel in.
3. v. intransitive To thrive by feeding; grow fat; feed oneself gluttonously.
4. v. intransitive To thrive, prosper, or live in luxury, especially at the expense of others; fare sumptuously.
5. v. intransitive To gratify a morbid appetite or craving; gloat.
6. v. transitive To improve by feeding; fatten; make fat or cause to thrive due to plenteous feeding.
7. n. A thin strip of wood used in construction to hold members of a structure together or to provide a fixing point.
8. n. nautical 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.
9. n. In stagecraft, a long pipe, usually metal, affixed to the ceiling or fly system in a theater.
10. n. The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof.
11. v. To furnish with battens.
12. v. nautical To fasten or secure a hatch etc using battens.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. v. To make fat by plenteous feeding; to fatten.
2. v. To fertilize or enrich, as land.
3. v. To grow fat; to grow fat in ease and luxury; to glut one's self.
4. n. (Com. & Arch.) Sawed timbers about 7 by 2 1/2 inches and not less than 6 feet long.
5. n. (Naut.) A strip of wood used in fastening the edges of a tarpaulin to the deck, also around masts to prevent chafing.
6. n. A long, thin strip used to strengthen a part, to cover a crack, etc.
7. v. To furnish or fasten with battens.
8. n. The movable bar of a loom, which strikes home or closes the threads of a woof.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. furnish with battens
2. n. a strip fixed to something to hold it firm
3. n. stuffing made of rolls or sheets of cotton wool or synthetic fiber
4. v. secure with battens