Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To ruin through clumsiness.
- v. To make or perform clumsily; bungle.
- v. To repair or mend clumsily.
- n. A ruined or defective piece of work: "I have made a miserable botch of this description” ( Nathaniel Hawthorne).
- n. A hodgepodge.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A swelling on the skin; a large ulcerous affection; a boil.
- To mark with botches.
- To mend or patch in a clumsy manner, as a garment: often used figuratively.
- To put together unsuitably or unskilfully; perform, express, etc., in a bungling manner; hence, to spoil by unskilful work; bungle.
- To mend or patch things in an unskilful manner; be a bungler or botcher.
- n. A bungled or ill-finished part; a flaw; a blemish.
- n. A patch, or a part of a garment patched or mended in a clumsy manner.
- n. That which is botched; ill-finished or bungled work generally.
- n. A bungling, unskilful workman or operator of any kind; a botcher.
Wiktionary
- v. To perform (a task) in an unacceptable or incompetent manner; to make a mess of something; to ruin; to bungle; to spoil; to destroy.
- v. To do something without skill, without care, or clumsily.
- n. An action, job, or task that has been performed very badly.
- n. A ruined, defective, or clumsy piece of work; mess; bungle.
- n. A mistake that is very stupid or embarrassing.
- n. A messy, disorderly or confusing combination; conglomeration; hodgepodge.
- n. A visible rash or swelling on the skin; a boil.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A swelling on the skin; a large ulcerous affection; a boil; an eruptive disease.
- n. A patch put on, or a part of a garment patched or mended in a clumsy manner.
- n. 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.
- v. To mark with, or as with, botches.
- v. To repair; to mend; esp. to patch in a clumsy or imperfect manner, as a garment; -- sometimes with
up . - v. To put together unsuitably or unskillfully; to express or perform in a bungling manner; to bungle; to spoil or mar, as by unskillful work.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an embarrassing mistake
- v. make a mess of, destroy or ruin
Etymologies
- Middle English bocchen, to mend.
Examples
“The Arabic judham (De 28: 35), where "sore botch" is rather the black burning boil (Isa 1: 6).”
“In fact, it is a disgraceful idea, an appalling, short-term botch that would set a horrible precedent.”
“POTUS Jr. began the speech well, just as Greg had drafted it, making sure to butcher a phrase and botch pronunciation for that proven populist posture.”
Fictionaut: Grand Heads for America: A Fable of Exceptionalism
“IV. i.60 (228,3) [This ruffian hath botch'd up] I fancy it is only a coarse expression for _made up_, as a bad taylor is called a _botcher_. and to botch is to make clumsily.”
“7. The new civil plaza is coming along as well in Keelung photos here, but I have a feeling they will make the #1 biggest design mistake that every Taiwan designer seems to botch, that is no shade for seating.”
“Is that a "botch" or something called a paraphrase?”
“But it's also fine to query as to what people think Voltaire meant ... and whether, in fact, Barack's "botch" is really one, or whether the general understanding of Voltaire's proverb is botched.”
“Why did he need to "botch" a joke about the president?”
“I personally think it's slightly more likely than not that he meant to joke about Bush and did indeed "botch" the joke.”
“A handshake, with no thrill of love in it such as might have furnished her palm, at least, some memories to dwell upon; a few stilted words of leave-taking; a halting, meaningless sentence or two about his "botch" of life -- then he walked away from the Wentworth doorstep.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘botch’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Incorrectum
Mistakes, Errors and Accidents.
nihilartikel, solecism, bevue, corrigendum, acyrology, cacoepy, fido, hamartithia, jeofail, mésalliance, mumpsimus, pseudochronism and 63 more...
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the first one
this the inception...
bete noir, zook, botch, icicle, lassie, Bobbitt, sedition, billiant

frindley "To leave no rubs nor botches in the work…"
Shakespeare's Macbeth to the murderers re the matter of Banquo's murder.
According to the Cambridge UP edition this is the OED's earliest citation for "botch".
The Royal Shakespeare Co. used to sell a rubber (eraser) with this quote printed on it. Cute.
I love this word. Aug 24, 2008