hatchway

[US]/'hætʃweɪ/
[UK]/'hætʃ'we/
Frequency: Very High

Translation

n. an opening in a ship's deck or building's floor or ceiling for entrance or exit.
Word Forms
Pluralhatchways

Phrases & Collocations

open the hatchway

access the hatchway

close the hatchway

Example Sentences

Please unload a part of the weldless steel tubes in Hatch No.3 hatchway for the present so as to the stevedores can use the opening to fill in the lower hold.

The sailors climbed up the ladder to the hatchway.

The hatchway was sealed shut during the storm.

The crew used the hatchway to access the lower deck.

The hatchway opened with a loud creaking sound.

The hatchway provided ventilation to the lower levels of the ship.

The captain ordered the crew to secure the hatchway before the storm hit.

The cargo was loaded through the hatchway.

The hatchway was too narrow for the large crates to pass through easily.

The hatchway was painted in bright yellow for safety reasons.

The engineer inspected the hatchway for any signs of damage.

Real-world Examples

See here, said Holmes, pointing to the wooden hatchway. We were hardly quick enough with our pistols.

Source: The Sign of the Four

He was forced, with all haste, down the hatchway into the hold.

Source: Twelve Years a Slave

The hatchway closed, and Arthur, setting the precious " drink" in a safe place, climbed on to an oil barrel to eat his pork and biscuit.

Source: The Gadfly (Original Version)

Once safely on board, they crept cautiously between dark masses of rigging and machinery, and came at last to a hatchway, which the sailor softly raised.

Source: The Gadfly (Original Version)

Nothing more was said, and Swithin ascended, words from above indicating to him that his footsteps were heard. In another half-minute he rose through the hatchway.

Source: Lovers in the Tower (Part Two)

I was leaning on the hatchway near the forecastle, full of desponding thoughts, when a sailor in a kind voice asked me why I was so down-hearted.

Source: Twelve Years a Slave

She ascended the tower noiselessly. On raising her head above the hatchway she beheld Swithin bending over a scroll of paper which lay on the little table beside him.

Source: Lovers in the Tower (Part 1)

The eagle and the man on the cross kept guard for a little while over the empty pueblo; then, as though they had seen enough, sank slowly down through their hatchways, out of sight, into the nether world.

Source: Brave New World

At length, when the last pint is casked, and all is cool, then the great hatchways are unsealed, the bowels of the ship are thrown open, and down go the casks to their final rest in the sea.

Source: Moby-Dick

The coffin laid upon two line-tubs, between the vice-bench and the open hatchway; the Carpenter caulking its seams; the string of twisted oakum slowly unwinding from a large roll of it placed in the bosom of his frock.

Source: Moby-Dick

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