How to Use batten in a Sentence

batten

1 of 2 verb
  • And along a bayou, shrimp boats were being tied up as shrimpers batten down ahead of the waves and storm surge.
    — Sarah Lynch Baldwin, CBS News, 15 Sep. 2020
  • Then, as now, the only course correction was to batten the hatches and go full-speed ahead.
    — WSJ, 27 Dec. 2021
  • Yep, the probabilities in this economy tell you to batten down the hatches.
    — Chris Morris, Fortune, 19 Oct. 2022
  • Bring the indoors outdoors with a board and batten privacy fence.
    — Kristin Hohenadel, The Spruce, 24 Apr. 2026
  • Vents at the front and rear ends provide airflow, even when campers batten the outer fabric down for rainy or windy conditions.
    — New Atlas, 30 Nov. 2025
  • Sheila stares downward, as though battening her emotional hatches.
    — Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein, New York Times, 13 June 2023
  • All the Valkyries could do was batten down the hatches and try to ride out Assumption's storm.
    — J.l. Kirven, The Courier-Journal, 25 Oct. 2022

batten

2 of 2 noun
  • Board-and-batten barn siding was used to make the cabinets and millwork.
    — Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2021
  • The home's effortless exterior gives you plenty of charm with a front porch, board-and-batten siding and a gable roof.
    — Star Tribune, 18 Dec. 2020
  • Located in the coastal city of Portland, the Maine home features a dark-gray board-and-batten exterior with a truly inviting front porch.
    — Joseph Neese, House Beautiful, 13 Sep. 2020
  • The contemporary farmhouse features a wide front porch, rustic beams and board-and-batten siding.
    — R. Stephanie Bruno, NOLA.com, 21 Dec. 2020
  • The house has board-and-batten siding and a gambrel roof, as well as a timber-frame living room with vaulted ceilings, a stone fireplace, a kitchen with granite countertops and a two-story deck.
    — Lia Picard, WSJ, 30 Sep. 2021
  • Modernize your backyard privacy wall with a board and batten finish for an indoor-outdoor feel.
    — Cori Sears, The Spruce, 29 Apr. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'batten.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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