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patch

noun
/pæt͡ʃ/

Etymology

From Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot, piece of cloth”), from Old English *plæċċ, *pleċċ (“a spot, mark, patch”), from Proto-West Germanic *plakkju, from Proto-Germanic *plakjō (“spot, stain”). For the loss of l compare pat from Middle English platten. Germanic cognates would then include Middle English plecke, dialectal English pleck (“plot of ground, patch”), West Frisian plak (“place, spot”), Low German Plakk, Plakke (“spot, piece, patch”), Dutch plek (“spot, place, stain, patch”), Dutch plak (“piece, slab”), Swedish plagg (“garment”), Faroese plagg (“cloth, rag”). Or, possibly a variant of Old French pieche, dialectal variant of piece (“piece”). Compare also Old Occitan petaç (“patch”).

  1. derived from pieche
  2. inherited from *plakjō✻ — “spot, stain”
  3. inherited from *plakkju✻
  4. inherited from *plæċċ✻
  5. inherited from pacche

Definitions

  1. A piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to…

    A piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to repair or strengthen it, especially upon an old garment to cover a hole.

    • His sleeves had patches on the elbows where different fabric had been sewn on to replace material that had worn away.

  2. A small piece of anything used to repair damage or a breach

    A small piece of anything used to repair damage or a breach; as, a patch on a kettle, a roof, etc.

    • I can't afford to replace the roof, which is what it really needs. I'll have the roofer apply a patch.

  3. A piece of any size, used to repair something for a temporary period only, or that it is…

    A piece of any size, used to repair something for a temporary period only, or that it is temporary because it is not meant to last long or will be removed as soon as a proper repair can be made, which will happen in the near future.

    • Before you can fix a dam, you have to apply a patch to the hole so that everything can dry off.
    • "This patch should hold until you reach the city," the mechanic said as he patted the car's hood.
  4. ›+ 25 more definitions

    1. A small, usually contrasting but always somehow different or distinct, part of something…

      A small, usually contrasting but always somehow different or distinct, part of something else (location, time, size)

      • The world economy had a rough patch in the 1930s.
      • To me, a normal cow is white with black patches, but Sarah's from Texas and most of the cows there have solid brown, black, or red coats.
      • Doesn't that patch of clouds looks like a bunny?

    2. A small area, a small plot of land or piece of ground.

      • scattered patches of trees or growing corn
      • There was a blackberry patch down by the creek, and his grandparents called the pasture down there the cow patch.
      • Just the suggestion that a good blueberry patch was near would bring everything to a standstill.

    3. A local region of professional responsibility.

      • There is a lot to be said in praise of the local or regional outlet that keeps very closely across the doings and news in their patch.
      • […] formed a contact with a man, who was the secretary of the tenants' association of a small housing estate in the social worker's patch.

    4. A small piece of black silk stuck on the face or neck to heighten beauty by contrast,…

      A small piece of black silk stuck on the face or neck to heighten beauty by contrast, worn by ladies in the 17th and 18th centuries; an imitation beauty mark.

      • Your black patches you wear variously.

    5. A piece of material used to cover a wound.

    6. An adhesive piece of material, impregnated with a drug, which is worn on the skin, the…

      An adhesive piece of material, impregnated with a drug, which is worn on the skin, the drug being slowly absorbed over a period of time.

      • Many people use a nicotine patch to wean themselves off of nicotine.

    7. A cover worn over a damaged eye, an eyepatch.

      • He had scratched his cornea so badly that his doctor told him to wear a patch.

    8. A block on the muzzle of a gun, to do away with the effect of dispart, in sighting.

    9. A piece of data intended to modify a computer file by replacing a part of it.

    10. A small piece of material that is manually passed through a gun barrel to clean it.

    11. A piece of greased cloth or leather used as wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the…

      A piece of greased cloth or leather used as wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the bore.

    12. A cable connecting two pieces of electrical equipment.

      • soundboard patch

    13. A sound setting for a musical synthesizer (originally selected by means of a patch cable).

      • A synthesizer comes with controls to store patches and edit them. Some high-end synthesizers even have floppy disks for additional patch storage.

    14. An overlay used to obtain a stronger impression.

    15. A butterfly of the genus Chlosyne.

    16. To mend by sewing on a piece or pieces of cloth, leather, or the like.

      • My coat needs patching.
      • That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.

    17. To mend with pieces

      To mend with pieces; to repair by fastening pieces on.

    18. To make out of pieces or patches, like a quilt.

      • I patched together this quilt.

    19. To join or unite the pieces of

      To join or unite the pieces of; to patch the skirt.

    20. To employ a temporary, removable electronic connection, as one between two components in…

      To employ a temporary, removable electronic connection, as one between two components in a communications system.

    21. To repair or arrange in a hasty or clumsy manner

      • The truce between the two countries has been patched up.

    22. To make the changes a patch describes

      To make the changes a patch describes; to apply a patch to the files in question. Hence:

    23. To connect two pieces of electrical equipment using a cable.

      • I'll need to patch the preamp output to the mixer.

    24. A paltry fellow

      A paltry fellow; a rogue; a ninny; a fool.

      • Shylock: The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder, Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day More than the wild-cat;[…]
      • Caliban: What a pied ninny's this! Thou scurvy patch![…]

    25. A surname.

      • Among my uncle Roger's farm servants, Esau Fletcher and Peter Patch came to the parsonage house.

The neighborhood

Derived

agropatch, autopatch, backpatch, bad patch, bald patch, bare patch, briar-patch, brood patch, cabbage patch, cold patch, cornpatch, cross-patch, cryptopatch, Dogpatch, eye patch, Gabor patch, garbage patch, Great Pacific Garbage Patch, herald patch, hot patch, hot-patch, interpatch, intrapatch, macropatch, micropatch, monkey patch, morale patch, multipatch, nanopatch, nicotine patch, not a patch on, oilpatch, oil-patch, oil patch, patch bay, patchbay, patchboard, patch-box, patch box, patch clamp · +36 more

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for patch. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA