blotch

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (intransitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

blotch, n. [Cf. OE. blacche in blacchepot blacking pot, akin to black, as bleach is akin to bleak. See Black, a., or cf. Blot a spot.].

•  A blot or spot, as of color or of ink; especially a large or irregular spot. Also Fig.; as, a moral blotch.  [1913 Webster]

  "Spots and blotches . . . some red, others yellow."  [1913 Webster]
•  A large pustule, or a coarse eruption.  [1913 Webster]

  "Foul scurf and blotches him defile."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

blotch, n. & v.
--n.
1 a discoloured or inflamed patch on the skin.
2 an irregular patch of ink or colour.
--v.tr. cover with blotches.

Derivative

blotchy adj. (blotchier, blotchiest).

Etymology

17th c.: f. obs. plotch and BLOT

THESAURUS

blotch

band, bar, bedarken, besmirch, bespangle, bespeckle, bespot, birthmark, black, blacken, blackwash, blaze, blaze a trail, blemish, bloodstain, blot, blur, brand, caste mark, chalk, chalk up, charcoal, check, check off, checker, checkmark, cicatrix, cicatrize, cork, cut, dab, dapple, dappledness, dappleness, darken, dash, daub, define, delimit, demarcate, denigrate, dinge, discolor, discoloration, dot, dottedness, earmark, ebonize, engrave, engraving, eyesore, flake, fleck, flick, flyspeck, freckle, freckliness, gash, graving, hack, harlequin, hatch, impress, imprint, ink, iris, jot, lentigo, line, macula, maculate, maculation, macule, make a mark, marble, marbleize, mark, mark off, mark out, marking, melanize, mole, motley, mottle, mottledness, murk, nevus, nick, nigrify, notch, oversmoke, patch, pencil, pepper, point, pointillage, pointillism, polka dot, polychrome, polychromize, prick, print, punch, punctuate, puncture, rainbow, riddle, scar, scarification, scarify, score, scotch, scratch, scratching, seal, seam, shade, shadow, smear, smirch, smoke, smouch, smudge, smut, smutch, soil, soilage, soilure, soot, spangle, spatter, speck, speckle, speckliness, splash, splatter, splotch, spot, spottedness, spottiness, sprinkle, stain, stamp, stigma, stigmatize, stipple, stippledness, stippling, strawberry mark, streak, striate, stripe, stud, taint, tarnish, tattoo, tattoo mark, tessellate, tick, tick off, tittle, trace, underline, underscore, variegate, vein, watermark

ROGET THESAURUS

blotch

Blemish

N blemish, disfigurement, deformity, adactylism, flaw, defect, injury, spots on the sun, eyesore, stain, blot, spot, spottiness, speck, speckle, blur, tarnish, smudge, dirt, freckle, mole, macula, patch, blotch, birthmark, blobber lip, blubber lip, blain, maculation, scar, wem, pustule, whelk, excrescence, pimple, pitted, freckled, discolored, imperfect, blobber-lipped, bloodshot, injured.

Blackness

VB be black, render black, blacken, infuscate, denigrate, blot, blotch, smutch, smirch, darken, black, sable, swarthy, somber, dark, inky, ebony, ebon, atramentous, jetty, coal-black, jet-black, fuliginous, pitchy, sooty, swart, dusky, dingy, murky, Ethiopic, low-toned, low in tone, of the deepest dye, black as jet, black as my hat, black as a shoe, black as a tinker's pot, black as November, black as thunder, black as midnight, nocturnal, nigrescent, gray, obscure.