batten down the hatches

Etymology
From the practice aboard a ship of sealing hatches to prevent water getting below-decks in a storm by using covers secured by strips of material, called battens, firmly attached to the frame of the hatch opening.

Verb

 * 1)  To prepare for trouble.

Usage notes

 * Other determiners (eg, these, those, all the) and modifiers (eg, virtual, financial) can modify hatches.

Translations

 * Finnish: valmistautua vaikeuksiin
 * French: se préparer au pire
 * German: sich warm anziehen
 * Italian: correre ai ripari, prepararsi al peggio


 * Finnish: sulkea luukut
 * French: condamner les panneaux
 * German: die Schotten dicht machen
 * Italian: chiudere i boccaporti
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: skalke lukene
 * Russian: задраить люки
 * Spanish: cerrar las escotillas