patch en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /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”).
Meanings
-
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.
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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.
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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.
"This patch should hold until you reach the city," the mechanic said as he patted the car's hood.
Before you can fix a dam, you have to apply a patch to the hole so that everything can dry off.
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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.
Doesn't that patch of clouds looks like a bunny?
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.
When ice skating, be sure to stay away from reeds: there are always thin patches of ice there, and you could fall through.
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(specifically) A small area, a small plot of land or piece of ground.
There was a blackberry patch down by the creek, and his grandparents called the pasture down there the cow patch.
scattered patches of trees or growing corn
Just the suggestion that a good blueberry patch was near would bring everything to a standstill.
1940 November, “Notes and News: Railway Operation Ad Lib”, in Railway Magazine, pages 611–612:
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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.
2012, Bruce Grundy, Martin Hirst, Janine Little, So You Want To Be A Journalist?: Unplugged, →ISBN, page 44:[…] 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.
1980, Noel Parry, Michael Rustin, Carole Satyamurti, Social Work, Welfare & the State, page 101:
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(historical) 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.
1625, John Fletcher, Philip Massinger, “The Elder Brother. A Comedy.”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC, Act III, scene v:...Then the patches had to be placed—patches full of sentiment, coquetry, and bits of opinions as minute as themselves. Essences and powder had to he scattered together, and Henrietta's long black tresses gathered into a mass which might fairly set all the orders of architecture at defiance.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Another London Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 169:
- A piece of material used to cover a wound.
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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.
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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.
- A block on the muzzle of a gun, to do away with the effect of dispart, in sighting.
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A piece of data intended to modify a computer file by replacing a part of it.
Immediately following the incident Siemens commissioned a software patch that will allow units which protectively shut down below 49Hz to recover themselves without the need of a reboot or laptop when the frequency rises to 49.5Hz. At the beginning of September, this patch was being verified by Siemens software engineers at Erlangen in Germany.
2019 October, Roger Ford, “Power failure highlights specification confusion”, in Modern Railways, page 28:
- A small piece of material that is manually passed through a gun barrel to clean it.
- A piece of greased cloth or leather used as wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the bore.
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(qualifier:often patch cable; patch cord; see also patch panel; often patch cable; patch cord; see also patch panel, usually) A cable connecting two pieces of electrical equipment.
soundboard patch
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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.
1988 November 28, “MIDI: Computers and Music”, in U-M Computing News, volume 3, number 21, The University of Michigan Computing Center, page 11:
- (historical) An overlay used to obtain a stronger impression.
- A butterfly of the genus Chlosyne.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| patches | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
oilpatch · patchwork · nicotine patch · cold patch · patchcoat · patchbay · soul patch · interpatch · patch file · brood patch · patch bay · Rembrandt patch · patchless · hot patch · monkey patch · morale patch · powder-down patch · cabbage patch · taro-patch fiddle · nanopatch · patch-box · patch clamp · agropatch · cornpatch · patch up · herald patch · multipatch · not a patch on · The Patch · macropatch · Great Pacific Garbage Patch · garbage patch · surface patch · Gabor patch · rough patch · Dogpatch · yellow patch · bald patch · briar-patch · hot-patch · autopatch · intrapatch · truck patch · patch box · tear up the pea patch · patchboard · purple patch · cross-patch · patch-up · backpatch · oil patch · patch pocket · micropatch · patch ice · patchy · pea patch · oil-patch · bare patch · patch test · patchwise · bad patch · patchword · patchset · patchwriting · patchlike · cryptopatch · transdermal patch · Peyer's patch · eye patch
Synonyms
tract (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · area (a small, distinct part of something larger) · spell (a small, distinct part of something larger) · blotch (a small, distinct part of something larger) · period of time (a small, distinct part of something larger) · stretch (a small, distinct part of something larger) · beauty spot (piece of black silk) · section (a small, distinct part of something larger) · spot (a small, distinct part of something larger)
Translations (172)
it pezza (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fi yhdyskaapeli (cable connecting two pieces of electrical equipment) · da lap (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · es parche (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · it straccio (small piece of material used to clean a gun barrel) · el επίθεμα (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · id tampal (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · es chácara (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · oc pedaçon (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · id tambalan (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · el επίθεμα (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · de Lappen (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · id pelekat (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · cs záplata (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · mi pūrei ao (a small, distinct part of something larger - period of time) · mi tiwha (a small, distinct part of something larger - period of time) · vi mảnh vá (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fr pièce (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · az yamaq (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · es chacra (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · sw kiraka (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · ru запла́та (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · la sūtēla (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · gl tomba (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · id tompok (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · oc pedaç (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · gl parche (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · gl calazo (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · ko 밭 (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · mi kōpure (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · el μπάλωμα (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · fa پینه (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fi paikka (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fi jyvä (guns: block to do away with the effect of dispart in sighting) · fi kausi (a small, distinct part of something larger - period of time) · bg ъпде́йт (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · ja パッチ (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · pt patch (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · ba ямау (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · hu folt (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · es parche (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · be ла́пік (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · mk за́крпа (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · gl parche (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · cs záplata (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · ga paiste (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · sv lapp (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · mi rau tawake (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · rup peaticã (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · it toppa (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · ru пэтч (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · ru апде́йт (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · it pezza (small piece of material used to clean a gun barrel) · got 𐍀𐌻𐌰𐍄 (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · la maca (medicine: piece of material used to cover a wound) · uk ла́та (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · uk патч (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · es parche (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · he טלאי (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fr rustine (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · oc remenda (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · mk ла́тица (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · grc πλήρωμα (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · grc ἐπίβλημα (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · ru патч (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · pl łatka (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · bg кръпка (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · oc tròç (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · gl cotoveleira (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · id tambalan (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · fr correctif (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · ms tampalan (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · pl flejtuch (piece of greased cloth used to fit a rifle ball to the bore) · mi āpure (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · km បំណះ (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · sk záplata (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · it zolla (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · bg парче (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · gl tomba (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · mk па́рче (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · fr mouche (piece of black silk stuck to the face) · enm clout (medicine: piece of material used to cover a wound) · la pannus (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · is bót (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · grc πρασιά (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · zdj ipvahu (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · is pjatla (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fr lopin (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · el μπάλωμα (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · el κομπρέσα (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · ko 패치 (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · mi tiwha (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · fi korjaustiedosto (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · oc pèça (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · ga paiste (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · ro petic (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · gl encano (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · gl leirucha (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · fa وصله (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · es parche (piece of black silk stuck to the face) · ru клочо́к (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · tr yama (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · gl pegón (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · vi bản vá (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · lt lopas (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · nl lap (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · uk ла́тка (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fi lääkelaastari (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · gl parche (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · pl łata (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · es parche (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · it panno (small piece of material used to clean a gun barrel) · ru запла́тка (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · tk ýama (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · gl trapallo (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fi palsta (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · zza pine (diq) (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · da lap (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · zdj ipvahu (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · ca pedaç (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fi ajanjakso (a small, distinct part of something larger - period of time) · fi side (medicine: piece of material used to cover a wound) · ca pedaç (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · fi tilkku (small piece of material used to clean a gun barrel) · de Patch (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · it toppa (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · ru запла́тка (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · it neo finto (piece of black silk stuck to the face) · ar رُقْعَة (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · pl łata (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · es conuco (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · fi maatilkku (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · gl pedamazo (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · gl pelgo (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · es cureta (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · gl remendo (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · it rattoppo (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · vi miếng vá (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · enm clout (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fi paikka (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · fi tilkku (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · fi paikka (medicine: piece of material used to cover a wound) · gl botaina (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · eu adabaki (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fi laastari (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · fi pätsi (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · fi kauneuspilkku (piece of black silk stuck to the face) · es chagra (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · ru ла́тка (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · mi pūrei kohu (a small, distinct part of something larger - period of time) · ru повя́зка (medicine: piece of material used to cover a wound) · cs náplast (medicine: adhesive piece of material impregnated with a drug) · da jordstykke (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · gl romendo (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fi paikkaus (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · mk а́лтица (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · fr patch (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · cmn 圃 (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · gl parche (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · bg пластир (medicine: piece of material used to cover a wound) · de Flicken (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · ba ямау (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · tr yama (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · ar مُصَحِّح sg or (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · cmn 修補程式 /修补程式 (computing: piece of data for modifying a file) · fi etutähtäin (guns: block to do away with the effect of dispart in sighting) · pt remendo (piece of cloth used to repair a garment) · gl pegamaz (small piece of anything used to repair a breach) · gl parche (piece of black silk stuck to the face) · da bed (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · gl leiro (a small area, plot of land, or piece of ground) · pt correção (computing: piece of data for modifying a file)