down the hatch

Idioms & Phrases

down the hatch

Drink up, as in "Down the hatch," said Bill, as they raised their glasses. This phrase, often used as a toast, employs hatch in the sense of "a trap door found on ships." [Slang; c. 1930]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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