n. An ill-natured person. [ Colloq. ] “Crosspatch, draw the latch.” Mother Goose. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. & v. Same as Dispatch. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Dispatched p. pr. & vb. n. Dispatching. ] [ OF. despeechier, F. dépêcher; prob. from pref. des- (L. dis-) + (assumed) LL. pedicare to place obstacles in the way, fr. L. pedica fetter, fr. pes, pedis, foot. See Foot, and cf. Impeach, Despatch. ] [ Written also despatch. ] 1. To dispose of speedily, as business; to execute quickly; to make a speedy end of; to finish; to perform. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ere we put ourselves in arms, dispatch we
The business we have talked of. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ The ] harvest men . . . almost in one fair day dispatcheth all the harvest work. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To rid; to free. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I had clean dispatched myself of this great charge. Udall. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To get rid of by sending off; to send away hastily. [ 1913 Webster ]

Unless dispatched to the mansion house in the country . . . they perish among the lumber of garrets. Walpole. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To send off or away; -- particularly applied to sending off messengers, messages, letters, etc., on special business, and implying haste. [ 1913 Webster ]

Even with the speediest expedition
I will dispatch him to the emperor's cou&unr_;&unr_;. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To send out of the world; to put to death. [ 1913 Webster ]

The company shall stone them with stones, and dispatch them with their swords. Ezek. xxiii. 47.

Syn. -- To expedite; hasten; speed; accelerate; perform; conclude; finish; slay; kill. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To make haste; to conclude an affair; to finish a matter of business. [ 1913 Webster ]

They have dispatched with Pompey. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. despeche, F. dépêche. See Dispatch, v. t. ] [ Written also despatch. ] 1. The act of sending a message or messenger in haste or on important business. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any sending away; dismissal; riddance. [ 1913 Webster ]

To the utter dispatch of all their most beloved comforts. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The finishing up of a business; speedy performance, as of business; prompt execution; diligence; haste. [ 1913 Webster ]

Serious business, craving quick dispatch. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To carry his scythe . . . with a sufficient dispatch through a sufficient space. Paley. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A message dispatched or sent with speed; especially, an important official letter sent from one public officer to another; -- often used in the plural; as, a messenger has arrived with dispatches for the American minister; naval or military dispatches. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A message transmitted by telegraph. [ Modern ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Dispatch boat, a swift vessel for conveying dispatches; an advice boat. --
Dispatch box, a box for carrying dispatches; a box for papers and other conveniences when traveling.

Syn. -- Haste; hurry; promptness; celerity; speed. See Haste. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who dispatches. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Bent on haste; intent on speedy execution of business or any task; indicating haste; quick; as, dispatchful looks. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. despechement. ] The act of dispatching. [ Obs. ] State Trials (1529). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a protective covering, usually made of cloth, for an injured eye.
Syn. -- patch. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. A geographical region from which petroleum is extracted. [ PJC ]

2. The petroleum producing industry; as, low oil prices cause hard times in the oil patch. [ PJC ]

n. [ OE. pacche; of uncertain origin, perh. for placche; cf. Prov. E. platch patch, LG. plakk, plakke. ] 1. A piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to repair or strengthen it, esp. upon an old garment to cover a hole. [ 1913 Webster ]

Patches set upon a little breach. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: A small piece of anything used to repair a breach; as, a patch on a kettle, a roof, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A small piece of black silk stuck on the face, or neck, to hide a defect, or to heighten beauty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Your black patches you wear variously. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Gun.) A piece of greased cloth or leather used as wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the bore. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Fig.: Anything regarded as a patch; a small piece of ground; a tract; a plot; as, scattered patches of trees or growing corn. [ 1913 Webster ]

Employed about this patch of ground. Bunyan. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Mil.) A block on the muzzle of a gun, to do away with the effect of dispart, in sighting. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A paltry fellow; a rogue; a ninny; a fool. [ Obs. or Colloq. ] “Thou scurvy patch.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Patch ice, ice in overlapping pieces in the sea. --
Soft patch, a patch for covering a crack in a metallic vessel, as a steam boiler, consisting of soft material, as putty, covered and held in place by a plate bolted or riveted fast. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Patched p. pr. & vb. n. Patching. ] 1. To mend by sewing on a piece or pieces of cloth, leather, or the like; as, to patch a coat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To mend with pieces; to repair with pieces festened on; to repair clumsily; as, to patch the roof of a house. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To adorn, as the face, with a patch or patches. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ladies who patched both sides of their faces. Spectator. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To make of pieces or patches; to repair as with patches; to arrange in a hasty or clumsy manner; -- generally with up; as, to patch up a truce. “If you'll patch a quarrel.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Computers) A circuit board where circuits are completed and modified by making connections with patchcords.
Syn. -- switchboard, plugboard. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A conducting cord with a plug at each end, used to make connections between circuit terminals at a patchboard. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

pos>adj. 1. Mended, usually clumsily by covering a hole with a patch; as, patched jeans. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

2. [ p. p. of patch, v. t.. ] Partly covered; as, The field was patched with ice and snow. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who patches or botches. Foxe. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Botchery; covering of defects; bungling; hypocrisy. [ R. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Unevenness in quality or performance. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. The act of mending a hole in a garment by sewing a patch over it. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adv. Knavishly; deceitfully. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. [ CF. F. patchouli; prob. of East Indian origin. ] 1. (Bot.) A small shrubby mintlike plant (Pogostemon cablin syn. Pogostemon Patchouli) of the East Indies, yielding an essential oil from which a highly valued perfume is made.
Syn. -- pachouli, Pogostemon cablin. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The heavy perfume made from the patchouli plant. [ 1913 Webster ]

Patchouly camphor (Chem.), a substance homologous with and resembling borneol, found in patchouly oil. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. To mend by patching; to patch; -- also used figuratively; as, to patch up frayed relations bewteen parties. [ PJC ]

n. Work composed of pieces sewed together, esp. pieces of various colors and figures; hence, anything put together of incongruous or ill-adapted parts; something irregularly or clumsily composed; a thing patched up. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Full of, or covered with, patches; abounding in patches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The common English periwinkle. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Spitchcock. [ 1913 Webster ]

. An official who gives the orders on a railroad as to the running of trains and their right of way. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]