botch

¹ American  

[boch] / bɒtʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to spoil by poor work; bungle (often followed byup ).

   He botched up the job thoroughly.

   Synonyms:

   flub, butcher, muff, mismanage, ruin

2. to do or say in a bungling manner.

3. to mend or patch in a clumsy manner.

---

noun

1. a clumsy or poor piece of work; 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.

botch ² American  

[boch] / bɒtʃ /

noun

1. a swelling on the skin; a boil.

2. an eruptive disease.

---

botch British  

/ bɒtʃ /

verb

1. to spoil through clumsiness or ineptitude

2. to repair badly or clumsily

---

noun

1. Also called: botch-up.  a badly done piece of work or repair (esp in the phrase make a botch of ( something ))

Other Word Forms

• botcher noun
• botchery noun

Etymology

Origin of botch¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English bocchen “to patch up”; perhaps to be identified with bocchen “to swell up, bulge” (verbal derivative of bocche botch ² ), though sense development unclear

Origin of botch²

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English bocche, botch(e), from Old North French boche, dialectal variant of Old French, Middle French boce boss ²

Example Sentences

The Los Angeles County Fire Department oversaw the response of the Eaton fire, and it has come under intense scrutiny over the botched alerts and limited firefighting resources on the west side of town.

From Los Angeles Times

Nasa has labelled the botched 2024 Starliner mission, which left two astronauts stranded in space for months, a "Type A" mishap, on par with fatal shuttle disasters of the past, in a newly published report.

From BBC

That tension reached a breaking point in September 1971, when Lin allegedly attempted a botched coup before dying in a mysterious plane crash in the Mongolian desert while fleeing to the Soviet Union.

From The Wall Street Journal

When she botched the final jump of her otherwise faultless short program, it was the shattering of her dream that left Glenn more distraught than the score that dropped her to 13th place.

From Los Angeles Times

A woman who had to have her leg amputated after a botched knee operation has won compensation from the hospital trust.

From BBC

Related Words

• bobble
• bumble
• bungle
• err
• flub
• fumble
• miscalculate
• mishandle
• misjudge
• mismanage
• muff
• screw up