Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

botch1

[boch]
See more synonyms for botch on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to spoil by poor work; bungle (often followed by up): He botched up the job thoroughly.
  2. to do or say in a bungling manner.
  3. to mend or patch in a clumsy manner.
Show More
noun
  1. a clumsy or poor piece of work; mess; 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; conglomeration.
Show More

Origin of botch1

1350–1400; Middle English bocchen to patch up; perhaps to be identified with bocchen to swell up, bulge (verbal derivative of bocche botch2), though sense development unclear
Related formsbotch·ed·ly [boch-id-lee] /ˈbɒtʃ ɪd li/, adverbbotch·er, nounbotch·er·y, noun

Synonyms

See more synonyms for botch on Thesaurus.com
1. ruin, mismanage; muff, butcher, flub.

botch2

[boch]
noun
  1. a swelling on the skin; a boil.
  2. an eruptive disease.
Show More

Origin of botch2

1350–1400; Middle English bocche < Old French boche, dialectal variant of boce boss2
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for botch

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Both of them have made a botch of their errand,” said he, “and are causing the bride to wait in vain!

  • They've been running it for thousands of years—and look at the botch they've made of it!

    In a Little Town

    Rupert Hughes

  • Mr. Primefit, the Eton Stultz, is changed into Botch, the cobbler.

    The English Spy

    Bernard Blackmantle

  • Work that is not finished, is not work at all; it is merely a botch.

    How to Succeed

    Orison Swett Marden

  • Are you not afraid that you might make a botch out of the whole job?

British Dictionary definitions for botch

botch

verb (tr often foll by up)
  1. to spoil through clumsiness or ineptitude
  2. to repair badly or clumsily
Show More
noun
  1. Also called: botch-up a badly done piece of work or repair (esp in the phrase make a botch of (something))
Show More
Derived Formsbotcher, noun

Word Origin

C14: of unknown origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for botch

v.

late 14c., bocchen "to repair," later, "to spoil by unskillful work" (1520s); of unknown origin. Related: Botched; botching. As a noun from c.1600.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper