down the hatch Definition

hatch¹
noun hatches

1. A door covering an opening in a ship's deck.
2. A hatchway.
3. A door in an aircraft or spacecraft.
4. An opening in a wall between a kitchen and dining-room, used especially for serving food.

Form: serving hatch (also)
5. The lower half of a divided door.
6. A flood-gate or sluice.

Idiom: down the hatch

colloq
Said as a toast: drink up!

Idiom: under hatches

Below decks.

Out of sight.

Dead.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon hæc.