English Reference

Word

hatching

Phoneticshatch·ing

US/ˈhætʃɪŋ/

UK/hˈætʃɪŋ/

Definition

n. the moment when a baby bird, fish, or insect comes out of its egg. In art, it also means a way of drawing using many small, parallel lines to create shading.

n. the process of an organism emerging from an egg; alternatively, an artistic technique involving the use of fine parallel lines to create tonal or shading effects.

Examples

“We watched the hatching of the baby sea turtles on the beach.”

“The artist used delicate hatching to create a sense of depth and shadow in the portrait's background.”

“While the zoologist documented the synchronized hatching of the clutch, the illustrator nearby captured the scene using cross-hatching to emphasize the rugged texture of the nest.”

Examples

simple

“We watched the hatching of the baby sea turtles on the beach.”

contextual

“The artist used delicate hatching to create a sense of depth and shadow in the portrait's background.”

complex

“While the zoologist documented the synchronized hatching of the clutch, the illustrator nearby captured the scene using cross-hatching to emphasize the rugged texture of the nest.”

Usage

Uncountable when referring to the artistic technique; countable when referring to specific biological events.

Real-World Examples

“A wildlife park is celebrating the hatching of the first king penguin chick in the UK since 2014.”
BBC News · 21 Aug 2026
“They led England off the field at Headingley hand in hand, hatching their plan to make one ball into two halves.”
BBC News · 19 Aug 2026

Word family

hatchVerbhatcheryNounhatchingNoun

Domains

ArtZoology

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

Scan code

englishreference.com/q/hatching

English Reference