batten down

batten down (third-person singular simple present battens down, present participle battening down, simple past and past participle battened down)

1. (nautical) To close or make watertight, referring to hatches and cargo.
2. (transitive) To secure.
3. (intransitive) To prepare for adversity.

• In transitive senses the object may appear before or after the particle. If the object is a pronoun, then it must be before the particle.

• batten down the hatches

• FM 55-501 Marine Crewman's Handbook.