batten

When they are struggling, they batten down the hatches and go all 'Dogs of War'.

He raised the tailgate, battened down the latches and headed for the cab.

There is that emotional mix of anticipation from the people who know what can happen here, combined with a palpable, psychic battening down the hatches because no one knows what is actually going to transpire.

The White House on Thursday felt a bit like a building battening down for a coming storm.

A "design defect" meant driving rain was being trapped beneath tonnes of concrete tiles, rotting the wooden battens that held them up.