blotter

American  

[blot-er] / ˈblɒt ər /

noun

1. a piece of blotting paper used to absorb excess ink, to protect a desk top, etc.

2. a book in which transactions or events, as sales or arrests, are recorded as they occur.

   a police blotter.

3. Machinery. a soft washer of blotting paper or felt for cushioning a brittle object against shock or pressure or for increasing the friction or contact area between two surfaces.

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blotter British  

/ ˈblɒtə /

noun

1. something used to absorb excess ink or other liquid, esp a sheet of blotting paper with a firm backing

2. a daily record of events, such as arrests, in a police station (esp in the phrase police blotter )

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Etymology

Origin of blotter

1585–95; 1887 blotter for def. 2; blot ¹ + -er ¹

Example Sentences

According to an SPD Blotter post, officers learned the man drove himself to Sodo.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 17, 2023

An update to SPD Blotter was posted Wednesday with photos of the alleged suspects.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 7, 2023

The suspected shooter fled the scene in “a sedan type vehicle in an unknown direction,” Officer Judinna Gulpan wrote on the SPD Blotter.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 1, 2023

I really admired “The Best Police Blotter in America—Revisited,” in which Leon Neyfakh reconsidered his praise, just a few days earlier, of the Point Reyes Light’s police blotter.

From Slate • Jun. 5, 2015

Quadrilles were practised in empty rooms; and Miss Timmock was actually seen trying to teach Blotter to waltz,—a proceeding, I rejoice to say, that the moral feeling of the household at once suppressed.

From Confessions Of Con Cregan An Irish Gil Blas by Lever, Charles James

Related Words

• binder
• diary
• journal
• pad