Dictionaries › English

botch

Pronunciation: /bɒt͡ʃ/

The English word “botch” has 10 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To perform (a task) in an incompetent or unacceptable manner; to make a mess of something.
  2. To do (something) without care or skill, or clumsily.
  3. To mend or repair (something) clumsily.

noun

  1. An action, job, or task that has been performed very badly; a ruined, defective, or clumsy piece of work.
  2. A patch put on, or a part of a garment patched or mended in a clumsy manner.
  3. A mistake that is very stupid or embarrassing.
  4. A messy, disorderly or confusing combination; a conglomeration; hodgepodge.
  5. One who makes a mess of something.
  6. A tumour or other malignant swelling.
  7. A case or outbreak of boils or sores.

Etymology

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

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “botch” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.