Hatch vs. Latch — What's the Difference?

A door in an aircraft, spacecraft, or submarine.

A latch or catch (called sneck in Northern England and Scotland) is a type of mechanical fastener that joins two (or more) objects or surfaces while allowing for their regular separation. A latch typically engages another piece of hardware on the other mounting surface.

The rear door of a hatchback car

A fastening, as for a door or gate, typically consisting of a bar that fits into a notch or slot and is lifted from either side by a lever or string.

Short for hatchback

A spring lock, as for a door, that is opened from the outside by a key.

A newly hatched brood

To close or lock with a latch.

(of an egg) open and produce a young animal

To have or be closed with a latch.

Conspire to devise (a plot or plan)

To shut tightly so that the latch is engaged

(in fine art and technical drawing) shade (an area) with closely drawn parallel lines

To close or lock as if with a latch.

An opening, as in the deck of a ship, in the roof or floor of a building, or in an aircraft.

(transitive) To catch; lay hold of.

The cover for such an opening.

(obsolete) To smear; to anoint.

A hatchway.

A fastening for a door that has a bar that fits into a notch or slot, and is lifted by a lever or string from either side.

A door that opens upward on the rear of an automobile; a hatchback.

(electronics) An electronic circuit that is like a flip-flop, except that it is level triggered instead of edge triggered.

A floodgate.

(obsolete) A latching.

The act or an instance of hatching from an egg or similar structure.

(obsolete) A crossbow.

The act or an instance of emerging from a cocoon or chrysalis.

(obsolete) That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.

The act or an instance of emerging from the water when transforming from an aquatic larval or pupal form to a winged form.

A breastfeeding baby's connection to the breast.

A group of young organisms, especially birds, that hatch at one time; a brood.

(database) A lightweight lock to protect internal structures from being modified by multiple concurrent accesses.

A group of adult insects that emerge at one time.

To smear; to anoint.

A group of winged insects, as mayflies or caddisflies, that emerge at one time from a body of water.

To catch so as to hold.

A fine line used in hatching.

To catch or fasten by means of a latch.

To emerge from an egg or other structure that surrounds and protects an embryo.

That which fastens or holds; a lace; a snare.

To emerge from a cocoon or chrysalis.

A movable piece which holds anything in place by entering a notch or cavity; specifically, the catch which holds a door or gate when closed, though it be not bolted.

To emerge from the water when transforming from an aquatic larval or pupal form to a winged form, as a mayfly or caddisfly.

A latching.

To produce (young) from an egg or eggs.

A crossbow.

To cause (an egg or eggs) to produce young.

Spring-loaded doorlock that can only be opened from the outside with a key

To devise or originate, especially in secret

Catch for fastening a door or gate; a bar that can be lowered or slid into a groove

To shade by drawing or etching fine parallel or crossed lines on.

Fasten with a latch;

A horizontal door in a floor or ceiling.

A trapdoor.

An opening in a wall at window height for the purpose of serving food or other items. A pass through.

A small door in large mechanical structures and vehicles such as aircraft and spacecraft often provided for access for maintenance.

(nautical) An opening through the deck of a ship or submarine

(slang) A gullet.

A frame or weir in a river, for catching fish.

A floodgate; a sluice gate.

(Scotland) A bedstead.

(mining) An opening into, or in search of, a mine.

The act of hatching.

(figurative) Development; disclosure; discovery.

(poultry) A group of birds that emerged from eggs at a specified time.

(often as mayfly hatch) The phenomenon, lasting 1–2 days, of large clouds of mayflies appearing in one location to mate, having reached maturity.

(informal) A birth, the birth records (in the newspaper).

(transitive) To close with a hatch or hatches.

To emerge from an egg.

To break open when a young animal emerges from it.

(transitive) To incubate eggs; to cause to hatch.

(transitive) To devise (a plot or scheme).

(transitive) To shade an area of (a drawing, diagram, etc.) with fine parallel lines, or with lines which cross each other (cross-hatch).

To cross; to spot; to stain; to steep.

To cross with lines in a peculiar manner in drawing and engraving. See Hatching.

To cross; to spot; to stain; to steep.

To produce, as young, from an egg or eggs by incubation, or by artificial heat; to produce young from (eggs); as, the young when hatched.

To contrive or plot; to form by meditation, and bring into being; to originate and produce; to concoct; as, to hatch mischief; to hatch heresy.

To produce young; - said of eggs; to come forth from the egg; - said of the young of birds, fishes, insects, etc.

To close with a hatch or hatches.

The act of hatching.

Development; disclosure; discovery.

The chickens produced at once or by one incubation; a brood.

A door with an opening over it; a half door, sometimes set with spikes on the upper edge.

A frame or weir in a river, for catching fish.

A flood gate; a sluice gate.

A bedstead.

An opening in the deck of a vessel or floor of a warehouse which serves as a passageway or hoistway; a hatchway; also; a cover or door, or one of the covers used in closing such an opening.

An opening into, or in search of, a mine.

The production of young from an egg

Shading consisting of multiple crossing lines

A movable barrier covering a hatchway

Emerge from the eggs;

Devise or invent;

Inlay with narrow strips or lines of a different substance such as gold or silver, for the purpose of decorating

Draw, cut, or engrave lines, usually parallel, on metal, wood, or paper;

Sit on (eggs);