這個拼法底下其實是2個不同的字，意思沒有關係， 只是長得一樣。下面分開列出來。跳到 （木）條板、壓條 · 靠別人吃穿、揩油過活
Picture a thin flat strip laid across something and nailed down. It is never the main structure and it carries no weight of its own. Its whole job is to cross over other pieces and hold them where they belong: a door that would bend, boards that would twist, a sheet of canvas whose edge would lift in the wind. Everything the word does grows out of that one strip pressing across and holding fast.
Wiktionary derives the noun from Middle English bataunt, from Old French batent, a noun from batre (to beat, to strike). A batten is a strip you beat into place.
資料指出這個名詞來自中古英文 bataunt，源於古法文 batent，而 batent 出自 batre（打、敲）。壓條是一根一根敲打上去的，這個動作就留在字裡。
Wiktionary 'batten' etymology 2 (packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1277618077)
From the picture
那根條子本身
這一組都是同一樣東西，只是換了工作場所：工地、劇場、船上。形狀不變，功用也不變，永遠是那根細長、用來固定別人的條子。
noun · C1
A long, narrow strip of wood that is fixed across other pieces of wood, or onto a wall, roof, or floor, to hold them together, keep them flat and straight, or give you something solid to fix other things to.
（木）條板、壓條
用條子把東西壓牢
名詞變成動詞：不是那根條子，而是「拿條子去壓」這個動作。受詞永遠是被按住的那個面或那張布。
verb · C1
On a ship, to close the openings in the deck and fasten them down tightly, laying strips of wood or metal over the edges of the covers so that water cannot get down into the lower part of the ship.
（船上）把艙口壓條釘牢
比喻：關緊一切、撐過難關
把整套動作從船上搬到人生裡。壓條、艙口、海水都留在句子裡，但說的已經是颱風、是淡季、是考試週。
verb · C1
To get ready for a hard time that you know is coming and cannot stop, by making everything safe, keeping costs and risks low, and waiting for it to pass.
做好準備、硬撐過難關
verb · C2
To fix strips of wood or metal onto something, laid across it, so that it is held flat, held together, or held down.
釘上條板固定；用條板壓住
A second word, same spelling
This batten is a different word that happens to be spelled the same. Picture an animal in a pen growing sleek and heavy on feed it never had to find for itself. Someone else grew the grain, someone else carried it in; the animal simply eats and gets fat. Move that picture onto a person and you get the modern use, along with the sour taste that comes with it.
Wiktionary traces this verb to Old Norse batna (to grow better, to improve), from a root meaning good. Its earliest English uses are about fattening animals and enriching land.
資料指出這個動詞來自古北歐語 batna（變好、改善），字根的意思是「好」。它在英文裡最早的用法，講的正是把牲口養肥、把地養肥。
Wiktionary 'batten' etymology 1 (packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1277572108)