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definitions

botch

1
[ boch ]
/ bɒtʃ /
||
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verb (used with object)

to spoil by poor work; bungle (often followed by up): He botched up the job thoroughly.
to do or say in a bungling manner.
to mend or patch in a clumsy manner.

noun

a clumsy or poor piece of work; mess; bungle: He made a complete botch of his first attempt at baking.
a clumsily added part or patch.
a disorderly or confused combination; conglomeration.

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RELATED WORDS

bumble, err, miscalculate, flub, misjudge, mismanage, muff, fumble, mishandle, bungle, bobble, blow, mar, mess, wreck, ruin, boot, muddle, butcher, patch

Nearby words

  1. botanize,
  2. botany,
  3. botany bay,
  4. botany wool,
  5. botargo,
  6. botch-up,
  7. botchedly,
  8. botchy,
  9. bote,
  10. botel

Origin of botch

1
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

Definition for botch (2 of 2)

botch

2
[ boch ]
/ bɒtʃ /

noun

a swelling on the skin; a boil.
an eruptive disease.

Origin of botch

2
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. 2019

Examples from the Web for botch

British Dictionary definitions for botch

botch

/ (bɒtʃ) /

verb (tr often foll by up)

to spoil through clumsiness or ineptitude
to repair badly or clumsily

noun

Also called: botch-up a badly done piece of work or repair (esp in the phrase make a botch of (something))
Derived Formsbotcher, noun

Word Origin for botch

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

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper