blot

¹ American  

[blot] / blɒt /

noun

1. a spot or stain, especially of ink on paper.

   Synonyms:

   blotch

2. a blemish on a person's character or reputation.

   He had been haunted by a blot on his past.

   Synonyms:

   spot, disgrace, dishonor, taint, stain

3. Archaic. an erasure or obliteration, as in a writing.

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verb (used with object)

• blots,
  present (3rd person singular)
• blotted,
  past participle,  past
• blotting
  present participle

1. to spot, stain, soil, or the like.

   Synonyms:

   disfigure, sully

2. to darken; make dim; obscure or eclipse (usually followed byout ).

   We watched as the moon blotted out the sun.

   Synonyms:

   expunge, erase, efface, obliterate

3. to dry with absorbent paper or the like.

   to blot the wet pane.

4. to remove with absorbent paper or the like.

   Synonyms:

   absorb

verb (used without object)

• blots,
  present (3rd person singular)
• blotted,
  past participle,  past
• blotting
  present participle

1. to make a blot; spread ink, dye, etc., in a stain.

   The more slowly I write, the more this pen blots.

2. to become blotted or stained.

   This paper blots too easily.

3. Chemistry. to transfer an array of separated components of a mixture to a chemically treated paper for analysis.

verb phrase

1. blot out

   1. to make indistinguishable; obliterate.

      to blot out a name from the record.

   2. to wipe out completely; destroy.

      Whole cities were blotted out by bombs.

blot ² American  

[blot] / blɒt /

noun

1. Backgammon. an exposed piece liable to be taken or forfeited.

2. Archaic. an exposed or weak point, as in an argument or course of action.

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blot ¹ British  

/ blɒt /

noun

1. a stain or spot of ink, paint, dirt, etc

2. something that spoils or detracts from the beauty or worth of something

3. a blemish or stain on one's character or reputation

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verb

1. (of ink, dye, etc) to form spots or blobs on (a material) or (of a person) to cause such spots or blobs to form on (a material)

2. informal to spoil one's reputation by making a mistake, offending against social customs, etc

3. (intr) to stain or become stained or spotted

4. (tr) to cause a blemish in or on; disgrace

5. to soak up (excess ink, etc) by using blotting paper or some other absorbent material

6. (of blotting paper or some other absorbent material) to absorb (excess ink, etc)

7. 1. to darken or hide completely; obscure; obliterate

   2. to destroy; annihilate

blot ² British  

/ blɒt /

noun

1. backgammon a man exposed by being placed alone on a point and therefore able to be taken by the other player

2. archaic a weak spot

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• blotless
  adjective
• blotty
  adjective
• unblotted
  adjective
• blottingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• blotting
  present
• blotted
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• blot
  simple
• blots
  simple
• have blotted
  perfect
• has blotted
  perfect
• am blotting
  progressive
• are blotting
  progressive
• is blotting
  progressive
• have been blotting
  perfect progressive
• has been blotting
  perfect progressive

Past

• blotted
  simple
• had blotted
  perfect
• was blotting
  progressive
• were blotting
  progressive
• had been blotting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will blot
  simple
• will have blotted
  perfect
• will be blotting
  progressive
• will have been blotting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of blot¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English noun blot(te); orign uncertain; perhaps akin to Old Norse blettr “blot, spot, stain”; the verb is derivative of the noun

Origin of blot²

First recorded in 1590–1600; origin uncertain; perhaps from Low German blat, akin to bloot “bare, exposed, unprotected”; possibly cognate with Dutch bloot, German bloss bare

Explanation

A blot is a dirty smudge, mark, or stain, like the giant blot of ketchup that remains on your shirt long after the hotdog-eating contest is over. A blot tends to mar or dirty a pristine surface, whether it's an ink blot on the book report you spent hours writing, or a blot of black paint on a white kitchen counter. Figuratively, a blot is something that dirties a person's reputation: "The scandal was a blot on the presidential campaign." As a verb, blot can mean "obscure," like when you use your hand to blot out the sun, or "dry a wet spot," the way you blot spilled tea with your napkin.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

blot blots blotted blotting

Moth swarms so thick they can blot out the stars are fluttering across Australia, heralding a migratory spectacle unseen since the creature's brush with extinction nearly 10 years ago.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

Harrison Armstrong: Cautioned for needlessly dragging Bruno Fernandes round the neck, but a minor blot on an otherwise impressive performance.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

Many of the towering sycamore trees and elder oaks — probably far older than even the adult Scout leaders — still blot out the midday sun with new, green leaves sprouting from their charred trunks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 9, 2025

Failure would be an indelible blot on his record and vastly complicate life for his successors.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025

I could not summon enough courage while she sat there looking at me to reach over the yawning space of twelve inches and blot the wet ink on the envelope.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

The shadow cast when the Moon blots out the Sun will begin in Russia's remote Arctic north at around 1700 GMT and continue in an arc over Greenland and Iceland.

From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026

In the past, some funds administered Rorschach tests, asking prospective recruits to assess ink blots, aiming to measure their ability to manage complexity.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 16, 2025

Occasional poorer performances have been blots on a generally excellent campaign.

From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2025

On further investigation, his team discovered that many of those papers were riddled with fishy data and questionable images, such as duplicated lanes within Western blots.

From Science Magazine ● Nov. 28, 2024

It was a little like that, except the blots were black while this design had a host of colors.

From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben

When the helmsman said that it didn’t, Pericles asked, “so, where’s the difference between this and the eclipse, except that something bigger than my cape has blotted out the sun?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Until last Sunday, when black towers of smoke blotted out the sun.

From Barron's ● Feb. 24, 2026

Any fruits and veggies you aren't going to eat immediately should be blotted with a dry paper towel or put in a salad spinner to remove moisture and reduce germ growth.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2024

As for Rose, bogeys on 17 and 18 blotted an otherwise excellent round.

From BBC ● May 19, 2024

I can’t tell you much about the counselor, because I deliberately and almost instantly blotted this experience out.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Rothbard blamed Smith’s celebrity for blotting out the better work of abler minds, but Turgot had kept his genius mainly to himself.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

In total, more than 1.7 million satellites could soon be lighting up the night sky, obscuring or blotting out the view of ground-based telescopes.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

From up in the space shuttle, in 1983, astronaut Sally Ride could see the pollution blotting out her Los Angeles hometown.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026

And McIlroy followed that with another double bogey on the par-four 17th, blotting what had previously been a consistent card where he had played with patience and maturity.

From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2025

“I have a first-aid kit in the cabin,” he says, blotting and squinting at the wound.

From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed

Related Words

• blemish
• blotch
• smudge
• speck