blotch

[ bloch ]

noun

1. a large, irregular spot or blot.

   Synonyms: stain, blemish, mark, splotch

2. Plant Pathology.
   1. a diseased, discolored spot or area on a plant.
   2. a disease so characterized, usually accompanied by cankers and lesions.
3. a skin eruption; blemish.

verb (used with object)

1. to mark with blotches; blot, spot, or blur:

   The floor of the forest was blotched with cool, dark moss.

adjective

1. Textiles. of or relating to blotch printing, or to the colored ground produced by this process.

blotch

/ blɒtʃ /

noun

1. an irregular spot or discoloration, esp a dark and relatively large one such as an ink stain

verb

1. to become or cause to become marked by such discoloration
2. intr (of a pen or ink) to write or flow unevenly in blotches

blotch

/ blŏch /

1. Any of several plant diseases caused by fungi and resulting in brown or black dead areas on leaves or fruit.

Word History and Origins

Origin of blotch¹

1595–1605; perhaps blend of blot ¹ + botch ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of blotch¹

C17: probably from botch , influenced by blot ¹

Example Sentences

Observations of distant galaxies showed them flying apart from each other, suggesting the current cosmos to be just the adult phase of a universe born long ago in the burst of a tiny blotch of energy.

From Science News

An x-ray revealed “blotches” on his lungs, and he was kept at the hospital for 10 hours to increase his oxygen levels, The Times reported.

From Washington Blade

Meanwhile, females are much less flashy with a greenish or floury brown hide peppered with deeper blotches.

From Popular-Science

One variety for cutting, known as "cinnamon blotch," is a leaf of good body and is considered an excellent tobacco for chewing.

From Project Gutenberg

There was indeed a blotch on one of the negatives, which I was assured was a spirit.

From Project Gutenberg

It came out a scraggy blotch of white paint, with its black eyes glaring like two great glass beads!

From Project Gutenberg

Looking round he saw the pale blotch of her face down in the darkness under the hanging tree.

From Project Gutenberg

The furnaces flared in a red blotch over Bulwell; the black clouds were like a low ceiling.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• blemish
• blot