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   patch

   /patʃ/

   noun

   • 1. a piece of cloth or other material used to mend or strengthen a torn or weak point: "the jacket was of well-worn tweed with leather patches on the elbows" Similar piece of cloth/material/fabric/leatherreinforcementpiece sewn on
   • ▪ a pad or shield worn over a sightless or injured eye. Similar covereyepatchcoveringpadshield
   • ▪ a piece of cloth sewn on to clothing as a badge or distinguishing mark: "on his sleeve there was a red ‘Freedom’ patch"
   • ▪ an adhesive piece of drug-impregnated material worn on the skin so that the drug may be absorbed gradually over a period of time: "once the patch is removed, the drug clears from the body tissue after twenty minutes"
   • ▪ a small disc of black silk worn attached to the face for adornment by women in the 17th and 18th centuries. historical
   • 2. a part of something marked out from the rest by a particular characteristic: "his hair was combed forward to hide a growing bald patch" Similar blotchmarkpopspotsmudgedotspeckspecklesmearstainstreakstripeblemishbirthmarkport wine stainstrawberry markinformal:splodgesplotchtechnical:naevus
   • ▪ a small area or amount of something: "patches of bluebells in the grass"
   • 3. a small piece of ground, especially one used for gardening: "they spent Sundays digging their vegetable patch" Similar plotareapiecestriprowlottractparcelbedborderallotment
   • ▪ an area for which someone is responsible or in which they operate: informal British "we didn't want any secret organizations on our patch"
   • 4. a particular period of time: informal British "he may have been going through a bad patch" Similar periodtimespellphasestretchintervalstintruntermspanextentinformal:spot
   • 5. a temporary electrical or telephone connection.
   • ▪ a preset configuration or sound data file in an electronic musical instrument, especially a synthesizer: "the guitar player has a certain patch on his FX which he's happy with"
   • 6. a small piece of code inserted into a program to improve its functioning or to correct a fault: "a program patch that fixes a bug"

   verb

   • 1. mend or strengthen (fabric or clothing) with a patch: "her jeans were neatly patched"
   • ▪ place a patch over (a good eye) in order to encourage a lazy eye to work: "the amblyopia may be treated by patching the good eye"
   • ▪ cover small areas of (a surface) with something different, causing it to appear variegated: "the grass was patched with sandy stretches"
   • 2. treat someone's injuries or repair the damage to something in an improvised way: informal "they did their best to patch up the gaping wounds"
   • ▪ construct something hastily from unsuitable components: "lean-tos patched together from aluminium siding and planks"
   • ▪ restore peaceful or friendly relations after a quarrel or dispute: "any ill feeling could be patched up with a phone call"
   • 3. connect by a temporary electrical, radio, or telephonic connection: "patch me through to number nine"
   • 4. improve or correct (a routine or program) by inserting a patch: "had he patched our system to recognize a magic password?"

   Word Origin late Middle English: perhaps from a variant of Old French pieche, dialect variant of piece ‘piece’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. patcher noun

   Scrabble Points: 12

   • P

     3

   • A

     1

   • T

     1

   • C

     3

   • H

     4

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