Meaning & use
hatch
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To come out of an egg, or to break open and let a young animal out.
Grammar: Intransitive for eggs or young: the eggs hatched; transitive for the bird: the hen hatched chicks.
Patterns
- something hatches
- hatch something
The chicks hatched early on Monday morning.
The hen hatched six eggs.
Sea turtles hatch at night and head for the water.
verbtransitivefigurative
To invent or plan something, especially in secret.
Grammar: Takes an object such as plan or scheme.
Patterns
- hatch a plan
- hatch a scheme
The brothers hatched a plan to surprise their mother.
The criminals hatched a plot in a quiet cafe.
She hatched a clever scheme to save money.
nouncountable
A small opening with a cover in a floor, deck, wall or roof.
Grammar: Count it: a hatch, two hatches.
Patterns
- open the hatch
- through a hatch
The sailor climbed through the hatch onto the deck.
A hatch in the ceiling led to the attic.
The food came through a hatch in the wall.
nouncountablebiology
The act of coming out of an egg, or a group of young that come out together.
Grammar: Often used in nature writing: the spring hatch.
Patterns
- a hatch of something
Fishermen wait for the spring hatch of mayflies.
The first hatch of the year arrived in April.
A large hatch of ducklings crossed the road.
verbtransitivetechnical
To draw fine parallel lines on a surface to show shade.
Grammar: Used in drawing and engraving.
Patterns
- hatch an area
The artist hatched the shadow beneath the tree.
Students learned to hatch the background lightly.
He hatched the area with a fine pen.
Word forms
| third person singular | hatches |
|---|---|
| past tense | hatched |
| past participle | hatched |
| -ing form | hatching |
| plural | hatches |
Common combinations
- hatch a plan
- They hatched a plan to escape.
- eggs hatch
- The eggs hatch after three weeks.
- escape hatch
- Use the escape hatch if the door jams.
- down the hatch
- He raised the cup and said, 'Down the hatch!'
- hatch out
- Two chicks hatched out overnight.
- battening down the hatches
- The crew began battening down the hatches before the storm.
Synonyms and how they differ
- incubate
- Incubate means to keep eggs warm so they will hatch, whereas hatch describes the result.
- devise
- Devise means to think up a plan and is more formal than the figurative hatch.
- concoct
- Concoct suggests mixing together a story or plan, often a dishonest one.
- emerge
- Emerge means to come out of anything, while hatch is only for eggs.
Word family
- hatchery noun
- a place where eggs, especially fish eggs, are hatched
- hatchling noun
- a young animal that has just hatched
- hatchback noun
- a car with a rear door that opens upward
- unhatched adjective
- not yet hatched
- hatching noun
- the act of coming out of an egg, or fine shading lines
Commonly confused: hatch or hutch?
hatch vs hutch
A hutch is a small cage for rabbits or a cabinet. It sounds similar but is not an opening or a verb for eggs.
Practice
Which sentence uses hatch to mean invent a secret plan?
Choose one answer.
Hatched a plan means secretly thought of a plan. The eggs sentence is the literal sense, and the hatch sentences use the noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hatch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.