# hatch

/ˈhætʃ/ (US) · /hˈætʃ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/hatch
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. emerging from an egg

verb · CEFR B1

to break out of an egg when being born.

For teachers: to emerge from an egg; also used transitively to describe the act of incubating eggs until they break open.

- We watched the tiny sea turtles hatch and crawl toward the ocean.
- The biologist monitored the temperature closely, ensuring the environment remained stable enough for the rare species to hatch successfully.

### 2. to plan a secret

verb · CEFR B2

to create a secret plan or a plot.

For teachers: to devise or originate a plan, scheme, or plot, typically in secret.

- The kids were hatching a plan to stay up past their bedtime.
- The conspirators met in a dimly lit basement to hatch a plot that would eventually topple the local government.

### 3. drawing lines

verb · CEFR C1 · Technical

to shade a drawing using many small parallel lines.

For teachers: to shade an area of a drawing or diagram with fine parallel lines to create texture or depth.

- The artist used a fine pen to hatch the shadows on the face.
- The architectural draft used cross-hatching to distinguish between different types of masonry in the cross-section view.

### 4. a small door or opening

noun · CEFR B2

a small door in a floor, a ceiling, or the side of a ship or plane.

For teachers: an opening or door in a deck, floor, or hull, often providing access to a compartment below or for maintenance.

- The sailor opened the hatch and climbed down into the engine room.
- Ground crew accessed the avionics bay through a small maintenance hatch located on the underside of the aircraft's fuselage.

### 5. serving window

noun · CEFR B2 · British English

a small opening in a wall used to pass food from a kitchen to a dining room.

For teachers: an opening in a wall at window height for the purpose of serving food or other items between rooms.

- She passed the plates through the hatch into the dining area.
- The renovation included a wide serving hatch to allow the chef to communicate more easily with the waitstaff during the dinner rush.

## Examples

- The sailor climbed through the hatch to reach the lower deck.
- The ground crew opened the cargo hatch to begin loading the passengers' luggage onto the aircraft.
- Engineers designed a reinforced escape hatch in the submarine's hull to ensure the crew could exit safely in the event of a catastrophic pressure failure.

---

From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.