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blot out

 - 6 dictionary results

blot

1  [blot] noun, verb, blot⋅ted, blot⋅ting.
Use blot out in a Sentence
–noun
1. a spot or stain, esp. of ink on paper.
2. a blemish on a person's character or reputation: He had been haunted by a blot on his past.
3. Archaic. an erasure or obliteration, as in a writing.
–verb (used with object)
4. to spot, stain, soil, or the like.
5. to darken; make dim; obscure or eclipse (usually fol. by out): We watched as the moon blotted out the sun.
6. to dry with absorbent paper or the like: to blot the wet pane.
7. to remove with absorbent paper or the like.
–verb (used without object)
8. to make a blot; spread ink, dye, etc., in a stain: The more slowly I write, the more this pen blots.
9. to become blotted or stained: This paper blots too easily.
10. Chemistry. to transfer an array of separated components of a mixture to a chemically treated paper for analysis. Compare gel, gel electrophoresis.
—Verb phrase
11. blot out,
a. to make indistinguishable; obliterate: to blot out a name from the record.
b. to wipe out completely; destroy: Whole cities were blotted out by bombs.
Origin:
1275–1325; (n.) ME blotte, akin to ON blettr blot, spot, stain; (v.) late ME blotten, deriv. of the n.

Related forms:
blotless, adjective
blot⋅ting⋅ly, adverb
blotty, adjective

Synonyms:
1. blotch, ink stain. 2. stain, taint, dishonor, disgrace, spot. 4. sully, disfigure. 5. obliterate, efface, erase, expunge. 7. absorb.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
blot (so) out

  1. tv.
    to kill someone. (Underworld.) : They blotted out the witness before the trial.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

blot 
1373, originally "blemish," perhaps from O.N. blettr "blot, stain," or from O.Fr. bloche "clod of earth." The verb is first attested 1440. Blotter "police arrest record," first recorded 1887, Amer.Eng., from earlier meaning "day book" (1678). Blotto "drunk" attested from c.1905.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: blot
Pronunciation: 'blät
Function: noun
: a nitrocellulose sheet that contains spots of immobilized macromolecules (as of DNA, RNA, orprotein) or their fragments and that is used to identify specific components of the spots by applying a suitable molecular probe (as a complementary nucleic acid or a radiolabeled antibody) —seeNORTHERN BLOT, SOUTHERN BLOT, WESTERN BLOT —blot transitive verb
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

blot (blŏt)
n.
The Northern, Southern, or Western blot analyses.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

blot out

Obliterate, wipe out of existence or memory, as in At least one Indian nation was blotted out as the pioneers moved west, or The trauma of the accident blotted out all her memory of recent events. This idiom, first recorded in 1516, uses the verb to blot in the sense of making something illegible by spotting or staining it with ink. The New Testament has it (Acts 3:19): "Repent ye ... that your sins may be blotted out."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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