Word of the Day -- Batten

This one came to me today in an email and I realized I really like this word.  Usually I do some digging, and I also keep a list of words that I want to do on here on day, but this one just was too perfect:

Batten -- to furnish or fasten with or as if with supports.

Now, you ask, why is that too perfect?  Because just before I read it, I was thinking to myself that we needed to get the cabin ready for winter.  I said to myself, we need to batten down the hatches.  Then I started wondering about that phrase.  Batten down the hatches, where did it come from?  What does it mean exactly?  

So I opened up my email and there was the answer!  There's a bit of serendipity in the world sometimes. 

Batten comes from the name for an iron bar used to secure the covering of a hatchway on a ship, which was especially useful in preparation of stormy weather. The verb batten is used in variations of the phrase "batten down the hatches," which means "to prepare for a difficult or dangerous situation." It winds back to Latin battuere, meaning "to beat." ~ Merriam - Webster.

The email also came with a quiz:

What 5-letter word is the name for an object (as at a dock) around which a rope can be tied or a projecting piece on the bottom of a shoe to prevent slipping?