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Webster 1913 Edition

Botch

Botch

,
Noun.
;
pl.
Botches
.
[Same as Boss a stud. For senses 2 & 3 cf. D.
botsen
to beat, akin to E.
beat
.]
1.
A swelling on the skin; a large ulcerous affection; a boil; an eruptive disease.
[Obs. or Dial.]
Botches
and blains must all his flesh emboss.
Milton.
2.
A patch put on, or a part of a garment patched or mended in a clumsy manner.
3.
Work done in a bungling manner; a clumsy performance; a piece of work, or a place in work, marred in the doing, or not properly finished; a bungle.
To leave no rubs nor
botches
in the work.
Shakespeare

Botch

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Botched
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Botching
.]
[See
Botch
,
Noun.
]
1.
To mark with, or as with, botches.
Young Hylas,
botched
with stains.
Garth.
2.
To repair; to mend; esp. to patch in a clumsy or imperfect manner, as a garment; – sometimes with up.
Sick bodies . . . to be kept and
botched
up for a time.
Robynson (More’s Utopia).
3.
To put together unsuitably or unskillfully; to express or perform in a bungling manner; to bungle; to spoil or mar, as by unskillful work.
For treason
botched
in rhyme will be thy bane.
Dryden.

Webster 1828 Edition

Botch

BOTCH

,
Noun.
[Eng.patch.]
1.
A swelling on the skin; a large ulcerous affection.
Botches and blains must all his flesh imboss.
2.
A patch,or the part of a garment patched or mended in a
clumsy manner; ill-finished work in mending.
3.
That which resembles a botch; a part added clumsily; adventitious or ill-applied words.
If those words are not notorious botches, I am deceived.

Definition 2024

botch

botch

English

Verb

botch ‎(third-person singular simple present botches, present participle botching, simple past and past participle botched)

  1. (transitive) To perform (a task) in an unacceptable or incompetent manner; to make a mess of something; to ruin; to bungle; to spoil; to destroy.
    A botched haircut seems to take forever to grow out.
  2. To do something without skill, without care, or clumsily.
  3. To repair or mend clumsily.

Synonyms

Translations

Noun

botch ‎(plural botches)

  1. An action, job, or task that has been performed very badly.
  2. A patch put on, or a part of a garment patched or mended in a clumsy manner.
  3. A ruined, defective, or clumsy piece of work; mess; bungle.
    • Shakespeare
      To leave no rubs nor botches in the work.
  4. A mistake that is very stupid or embarrassing.
  5. A messy, disorderly or confusing combination; conglomeration; hodgepodge.
Translations

Related terms

See also

Etymology 2

From Anglo-Norman boche, from Late Latin bocia ‎(“boss”).

Noun

botch ‎(plural botches)

  1. (obsolete) A tumour or other malignant swelling.
    • Milton
      Botches and blains must all his flesh emboss.
  2. A case or outbreak of boils or sores.
    • 1395, John Wycliffe, Bible, Job II:
      Therfor Sathan ȝede out fro the face of the Lord, and smoot Joob with a ful wickid botche fro the sole of the foot til to his top [...].
    • 1611, Bible (Authorized Version), Deuteronomy XXVIII:
      The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.

Etymology

From Middle English bocchen ‎(“to mend”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Old English bōtettan ‎(“to improve; cure; remedy; repair”), or from Middle Dutch botsen, butsen, boetsen ‎(“to repair; patch”), related to beat.

Pronunciation

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