What does "hatchway" mean?

A means of passing through a wall or floor, having a hatch (especially on a ship); a doorway with a hatch rather than a door.

What is a synonym for "hatchway"?

Common synonyms include: archway, back door, bulkhead, companion, door, doorjamb.

//ˈhæt͡ʃweɪ// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A means of passing through a wall or floor, having a hatch (especially on a ship); a doorway with a hatch rather than a door.
"Up through the great hatchways rimmed with racks of heavy shot, the watch below came pouring […]"
2
an entrance equipped with a hatch; especially a passageway between decks of a ship wordnet

"Up through the great hatchways rimmed with racks of heavy shot, the watch below came pouring […]"

From hatch + way.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.