botch

¹ American  

[boch] / bɒtʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to spoil by poor work; bungle (often followed byup ).

   He botched up the job thoroughly.

   Synonyms:

   flub, butcher, muff, mismanage, ruin

2. to do or say in a bungling manner.

3. to mend or patch in a clumsy manner.

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noun

1. a clumsy or poor piece of work; bungle.

   He made a complete botch of his first attempt at baking.

2. a clumsily added part or patch.

3. a disorderly or confused combination.

botch ² American  

[boch] / bɒtʃ /

noun

1. a swelling on the skin; a boil.

2. an eruptive disease.

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botch British  

/ bɒtʃ /

verb

1. to spoil through clumsiness or ineptitude

2. to repair badly or clumsily

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noun

1. Also called: botch-up.  a badly done piece of work or repair (esp in the phrase make a botch of ( something ))

Other Word Forms

• botcher
  noun
• botchery
  noun

Etymology

Origin of botch¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English bocchen “to patch up”; perhaps to be identified with bocchen “to swell up, bulge” (verbal derivative of bocche botch ² ), though sense development unclear

Origin of botch²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English bocche, botch(e), from Old North French boche, dialectal variant of Old French, Middle French boce boss ²

Explanation

If you botch something, you make a mess of it or you ruin it. If you totally botch your lines in the school play, you stammer and stutter your way through the whole thing. Interestingly, the word botch originally meant the opposite of what it means today. The Middle English word bocchen meant to mend or repair. As a noun botch means an embarrassing mistake or something that is done poorly, especially due to lack of skill. If they've never painted before, your friends working on set design might make a complete botch of the scenery for the play, which might involve repainting the whole thing.

Example Sentences

The fish is named Botch, “after a long-dead painter.”

From New York Times • Dec. 3, 2019

Botch the lay-up, too, and it's a par 7.

From Golf Digest • Jul. 13, 2016

Botch might have figured things out in his last race.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 29, 2013

Botch the handoff to the head coach, well, all that's left is to swallow that hollow feeling and start calling the next names on the list.

From Seattle Times • Nov. 2, 2011

When she shook that off, I yelled t’ Botch t’ look out for two more.

From Every Man for Himself by Duncan, Norman

Related Words

• bobble
• bumble
• bungle
• err
• flub
• fumble
• miscalculate
• mishandle
• misjudge
• mismanage
• muff
• screw up