HATCH  . I . (In

Mid . Eng. hacche; the word is of obscure origin, but cognate forms appear in Swed. h¢cka, and Dan. hoc/eke; it has been connected with " hatch," grating, with possible reference to a coop, and with " hack " in the sense " to peck," of chickens coming out of the shell), to bring out young from the egg, by incubation or other process, natural or artificial . The word is also used as a substantive of a brood of chickens brought out from the eggs . " Hatchery " is particularly applied to a place for the hatching of fish spawn, where the natural process is aided by artificial means . In a figurative sense " to hatch " is often used of the development or contrivance of a plot or conspiracy . 2 . (From the Fr. hacker, to cut, hache, hatchet), to engrave or draw by means of cutting lines on wood, metal, &c., or to ornament by inlaying with strips of some other substance as gold or silver . Engraved lines, especially those used in shading, are called " hatches " or " hachures " (see HACHURE) . 3 . (O.E. hcec, a gate, rack in a stable; found in various Teutonic languages; cf .

Dutch hek, Dan. hekke; the ultimate origin is obscure;

Skeat suggests a connexion with the root seen in " hook "), the name given to the lower half of a divided I ' mil Not Nen ai J_11-7 ~•- . o' i {,may, ILL HOC ~~ ~ --1 Mir _ ~u~7~!„ door, as in " buttery-hatch," the half-door leading from the buttery or kitchen, through which the dishes could be passed into the dining-hall . It was used formerly as another name for a ship's deck, and thus the phrase " under hatches " meant properly below deck; the word is now applied to the doors of grated framework covering the openings (the " hatchways ") which lead from one deck to another into the hold through which the cargo is lowered . In Cornwall the word is used to denote certain dams or mounds used to prevent the tin-washes and the water coming from the stream-works from flowing into the fresh rivers .