blotch

[bloch]
noun
1.
a large, irregular spot or blot.
2.
Plant Pathology.
a.
a diseased, discolored spot or area on a plant.
b.
a disease so characterized, usually accompanied by cankers and lesions.
3.
a skin eruption; blemish.
verb (used with object)
4.
to mark with blotches; blot, spot, or blur: The floor of the forest was blotched with cool, dark moss.
adjective
5.
Textiles. of or pertaining to blotch printing, or to the colored ground produced by this process.

Origin:
1595–1605; perhaps blend of blot1 + botch2


1. splotch, mark, blemish, stain.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Blotch is one of our favorite verbs.
So is bowdlerise. Does it mean:
to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.
to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.
Collins
World English Dictionary
blotch (blɒtʃ) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  an irregular spot or discoloration, esp a dark and relatively large one such as an ink stain
 
vb
2.  to become or cause to become marked by such discoloration
3.  (intr) (of a pen or ink) to write or flow unevenly in blotches
 
[C17: probably from botch, influenced by blot1]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

blotch
c.1600, perhaps a blend of blot and botch or patch.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Science Dictionary
blotch   (blŏch)  Pronunciation Key 
Any of several plant diseases caused by fungi and resulting in brown or black dead areas on leaves or fruit.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

blotch

plant disease characterized by splotchy black stain or coating on leaves, stems, and fruit, composed of dark fungal threads (Capnodium, Fumago, and Scorias species) that grow in flowing sap or on honeydew excreted by aphids and other sucking insects. The condition is unsightly but usually not harmful. Control includes spraying or dusting for sucking insects, washing off sticky coatings of sap or honeydew on plant surfaces, and avoiding the wounding of plants.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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Example sentences
Its dorsal keel is less pronounced, and the crescent or blotch behind the eye
  is often narrower.
The head has a large yellowish crescent or blotch behind the eyes and a
  distinct yellow spot under the eye on the lower jaw.
Genetic studies of net blotch resistance in a barley cross.
The longer sepals are hairless and have a greenish-yellow blotch at their base.
Image for blotch
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