booby hatch
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booby hatch
n.
1. Nautical A raised covering over a small hatchway.
2. Offensive Slang An institution for the mentally ill.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
booby hatch
n
1. a hoodlike covering for a hatchway on a ship
2. offensive slang US a mental hospital
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
boo′by hatch`
n.
1. (on a vessel) a small companion secured over a deck opening.
2. Slang.
a. an insane asylum.
b. jail.
[1830–40]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
booby hatch
- First a kind of wooden hood over a hatch, readily removable.See also related terms for hatch.
Farlex Trivia Dictionary. © 2012 Farlex, Inc. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. |  booby hatch - pejorative terms for an insane asylumcrazy house, cuckoo's nest, funny farm, funny house, loony bin, madhouse, nut house, nuthouse, sanatorium, snake pit, Bedlam mental home, mental hospital, mental institution, psychiatric hospital, insane asylum, asylum, institution - a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person |
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