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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

blot one's copy book en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) To damage one's own reputation through bad behavior.
    • Indeed, it was not uncommonly heard that the crown should skip a generation and be conferred on Prince William, who, so far at least, had not blotted his copybook and was more popular than his father. 2023, Theodore Dalrymple, “From Duty to Decadence”, in City Journal:
    • Now, it was the College that had blotted its copybook 1935, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gaudy Night:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
blotted one's copy book Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
blotted one's copy book Tense=Past lexicographic
blotting one's copy book Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
blots one's copy book Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
blot one's copybook alternative lexicographic