blotch

1 of 2

verb

blotched; blotching; blotches

transitive verb

: to mark or mar with blotches

blotch

2 of 2

noun

1
2
: a spot or mark (as of color or ink) especially when large or irregular
blotchily adverb
blotchy adjective

Examples of blotch in a Sentence

Verb blotched the bedroom walls with various shades of blue to give them a textured effect my pen leaked and blotched my shirt pocket Noun blotches on the tree's leaves a dog with a single small blotch of black
Recent Examples on the Web
Verb
His guests, their faces blotched from exertion, stare upward in dismay. Thomas Palmer, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019 Still, in the contents of this collection, some blotched with stray fingerprints or grease splatters, O’Keeffe left traces of her daily effort to maintain Abiquiu as a sanctuary. Amelia Nierenberg, New York Times, 7 Feb. 2020 The friend spotted a big male Chinook — its fins torn, its back blotched with the fungus of decay. Special To The Oregonian, OregonLive.com, 5 May 2018 Inside the box there's a pile of mint-green paint chips, blotched with brown stains and cracked like a dehydrated lake bed. Maya Dukmasova, Chicago Reader, 24 Oct. 2017 As Ghosh writes, back in 1635, in a village nearby Slovakia’s Strazov Mountains, lawyer Jan Ladislaides marked his stamp of approval on municipal account documents with a small blotched drawing of two dots and a line inside a circle. Lauren Young, Smithsonian, 6 Feb. 2017 People emerged from the pools, their pale white skin blotched with red. James Hamblin, The Atlantic, 9 June 2017 As Ghosh writes, back in 1635, in a village nearby Slovakia’s Strazov Mountains, lawyer Jan Ladislaides marked his stamp of approval on municipal account documents with a small blotched drawing of two dots and a line inside a circle. Lauren Young, Smithsonian, 6 Feb. 2017
Noun
Faint white lines run down its back as do some orange and black blotches. Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 29 Feb. 2024 Angels dissolved into clouds, chimney sweeps became black blotches that seeped into toothy mice, then trailed over stars and Christmas hearts and trees. Thomas Korsgaard, The New Yorker, 26 Feb. 2024 His brushwork was guided not by the workings of discreet blotches of color under relatively even light conditions but by gradations of light and dark. Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 20 Nov. 2023 Several snakes have a blueish gray coloring with brown band-like blotches. Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 14 Feb. 2024 The base of its tail has a small bright orange blotch, a photo shows. Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 26 Jan. 2024 The red blotches in the image represent excited, glowing hydrogen molecules in hot, energetic, young stars. Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Dec. 2023 The rash is typically symmetrical, with multiple reddish blotches or bumps all over the body. Colleen Murphy, Health, 4 Aug. 2023 Symptoms in the foliage itself include yellow or reddish blotches discoloring the leaf and sometimes leaf wrinkling. Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 24 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'blotch.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

perhaps blend of blot entry 1 and botch entry 3

First Known Use

Verb

1604, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1619, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of blotch was in 1604

Dictionary Entries Near blotch

Cite this Entry

“Blotch.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blotch. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

blotch

noun
ˈbläch
1
2
: a large irregular spot (as of color or ink)
blotch verb
blotched
ˈblächt
adjective
blotchy
ˈbläch-ē
adjective

Medical Definition

blotch

noun
: a discolored patch on the skin
the face and neck were covered with large reddish blotches
blotch transitive verb
blotchy adjective

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