Booby hatch

booby hatch
    n 1: pejorative terms for an insane asylum [syn: {Bedlam},
         {booby hatch}, {crazy house}, {cuckoo's nest}, {funny
         farm}, {funny house}, {loony bin}, {madhouse}, {nut house},
         {nuthouse}, {sanatorium}, {snake pit}]
    

Hatch \Hatch\, n. [OE. hacche, AS. h[ae]c, cf. haca the bar of a
   door, D. hek gate, Sw. h[aum]ck coop, rack, Dan. hekke
   manger, rack. Prob. akin to E. hook, and first used of
   something made of pieces fastened together. Cf. {Heck},
   {Hack} a frame.]
   1. A door with an opening over it; a half door, sometimes set
      with spikes on the upper edge.
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            In at the window, or else o'er the hatch. --Shak.
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   2. A frame or weir in a river, for catching fish.
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   3. A flood gate; a sluice gate. --Ainsworth.
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   4. A bedstead. [Scot.] --Sir W. Scott.
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   5. An opening in the deck of a vessel or floor of a warehouse
      which serves as a passageway or hoistway; a hatchway;
      also; a cover or door, or one of the covers used in
      closing such an opening.
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   6. (Mining) An opening into, or in search of, a mine.
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   {Booby hatch}, {Buttery hatch}, {Companion hatch}, etc. See
      under {Booby}, {Buttery}, etc.

   {To batten down the hatches} (Naut.), to lay tarpaulins over
      them, and secure them with battens.

   {To be under hatches}, to be confined below in a vessel; to
      be under arrest, or in slavery, distress, etc.
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Booby \Boo"by\ (b[=oo]"b[y^]), n.; pl. {Boobies} (-b[i^]z). [Sp.
   bobo dunce, idiot; cf. L. balbus stammering, E. barbarous.]
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   1. A dunce; a stupid fellow.
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   2. (Zool.)
      (a) A swimming bird ({Sula fiber} or {Sula sula}) related
          to the common gannet, and found in the West Indies,
          nesting on the bare rocks. It is so called on account
          of its apparent stupidity -- unafraid of men, it
          allows itself to be caught by a simple and undisguised
          approach. The name is also sometimes applied to other
          species of gannets; as, {Sula piscator}, the
          {red-footed booby}; and {Sula nebouxii}, the
          {blue-footed booby}.
      (b) A species of penguin of the antarctic seas.
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   {Booby hatch}
      (a) (Naut.), a kind of wooden hood over a hatch, readily
          removable.
      (b), an insane asylum. [Colloq.]

   {Booby hut}, a carriage body put upon sleigh runners. [Local,
      U. S.] --Bartlett.

   {Booby hutch}, a clumsy covered carriage or seat, used in the
      eastern part of England. --Forby.

   {Booby prize}, an award for the poorest performance in a
      competition; hence, metaphorically, the recognition of a
      strikingly inferior or incompetent performance.

   {Booby trap}
      (a), a schoolboy's practical joke, as a shower bath when a
          door is opened.
      (b), any concealed device causing surprise or injury when
          a usually harmless object is touched; -- in military
          operations, typically containing an explosive charge.
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