hatch

noun

1. 1.

   A horizontal door in a floor or ceiling.

2. 2.

   An opening in a wall at window height for the purpose of serving food or other items. A pass through.

3. 3.

   A small door in large mechanical structures and vehicles such as aircraft and spacecraft often provided for access for maintenance.

4. 4.

   poultry

   A group of birds that emerged from eggs at a specified time.

5. 5.

   often as mayfly hatch

   The phenomenon, lasting 1–2 days, of large clouds of mayflies appearing in one location to mate, having reached maturity.

6. 6.

   The act of hatching.

verb

1. 1.

   Emerge from the eggs

   “Young birds, fish, and reptiles hatch.”

2. 2.

   intransitiveof young animals

   To emerge from an egg.

3. 3.

   intransitiveof eggs

   To break open when a young animal emerges from it.

4. 4.

   Devise or invent

5. 5.

   transitive

   To devise (a plot or scheme).

6. 6.

   transitive

   To shade an area of (a drawing, diagram, etc.) with fine parallel lines, or with lines which cross each other (crosshatch).

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

• hatchingnounInflected form

  The production of young from an egg.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

• booby hatchnounCompound term

  Pejorative terms for an insane asylum.

Related words

Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.

• hatcherynounRelated term

  A place where eggs are hatched under artificial conditions (especially fish eggs).