Noun
A square or oblong opening in a deck or floor, affording passage from one deck or story to another; the entrance to a cellar.
Source: Webster's dictionaryThe last monk, upon entering, paused in the lock. He stood in the open hatchway and took off his sandals. "Sic transit mundus," he murmured, looking back at the glow. He slapped the soles of his sandals together, beating the dirt out of them. Walter M. Miller, Jr.