blotch

American  

[bloch] / blɒtʃ /

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.

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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 British  

/ blɒtʃ /

noun

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

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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 Scientific  

/ blŏch /

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

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Etymology

Origin of blotch

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

Example Sentences

Her zapping turns her entire head of hair — not just a streak — shocking white à la Jean Harlow, and leaves an oddly-appealing black blotch on her cheek.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2026

I also had a little red blotch of skin, but as I said, my thighs rub together, so maybe it was nothing?

From Slate • Mar. 13, 2024

But Otte held them to four runs, with just a three-run fifth by Kennewick a major blotch on the right-hander’s night.

From Seattle Times • May 28, 2022

After a long, wet summer, apple trees now suffer from a disease named marssonina blotch, first identified in Pennsylvania in 2017 but also found throughout much of the Eastern United States.

From Washington Post • Sep. 7, 2021

The gasoline made a dark, oily blotch on Lexie’s flowered comforter, on Trip’s pillow, on Moody’s plaid sheets.

From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng

Related Words

• blemish
• blot