n. [ Cf. OE. blacche in blacchepot blacking pot, akin to black, as bleach is akin to bleak. See Black, a., or cf. Blot a spot. ] 1. A blot or spot, as of color or of ink; especially a large or irregular spot. Also Fig.; as, a moral blotch. [ 1913 Webster ]

Spots and blotches . . . some red, others yellow. Harvey. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) A large pustule, or a coarse eruption. [ 1913 Webster ]

Foul scurf and blotches him defile. Thomson. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Marked or covered with blotches. [ 1913 Webster ]

To give their blotched and blistered bodies ease. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Having blotches. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Botches [ Same as Boss a stud. For senses 2 & 3 cf. D. botsen to beat, akin to E. beat. ] 1. A swelling on the skin; a large ulcerous affection; a boil; an eruptive disease. [ Obs. or Dial. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Botches and blains must all his flesh emboss. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A patch put on, or a part of a garment patched or mended in a clumsy manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Work done in a bungling manner; a clumsy performance; a piece of work, or a place in work, marred in the doing, or not properly finished; a bungle. [ 1913 Webster ]

To leave no rubs nor botches in the work. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Botched p. pr. & vb. n. Botching. ] [ See Botch, n. ] 1. To mark with, or as with, botches. [ 1913 Webster ]

Young Hylas, botched with stains. Garth. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To repair; to mend; esp. to patch in a clumsy or imperfect manner, as a garment; -- sometimes with up. [ 1913 Webster ]

Sick bodies . . . to be kept and botched up for a time. Robynson (More's Utopia). [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To put together unsuitably or unskillfully; to express or perform in a bungling manner; to bungle; to spoil or mar, as by unskillful work. [ 1913 Webster ]

For treason botched in rhyme will be thy bane. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a clumsy manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who mends or patches, esp. a tailor or cobbler. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A clumsy or careless workman; a bungler. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) A young salmon; a grilse. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Bungling; awkward. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A botching, or that which is done by botching; clumsy or careless workmanship. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Marked with botches; full of botches; poorly done. “This botchy business.” Bp. Watson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A kind of candy, mainly composed of sugar and butter. [ Colloq. ] Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Crotches [ Cf. Crotchet, Crutch. ] 1. The angle formed by the parting of two legs or branches; a fork; the point where a trunk divides; as, the crotch of a tree. more specifically, the space on the human torso between the two legs; also, the corresponding part between the legs of a pair of pants, which is in contact with the crotch of the wearer; as, pants with a tight crotch have become very popular. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

2. (Naut.) A stanchion or post of wood or iron, with two arms for supporting a boom, spare yards, etc.; -- called also crane and crutch. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Billiards) In the three-ball carom game, a small space at each corner of the table. See Crotched, below. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Crotched p. pr. & vb. n. Crotch"ing.] 1. To provide with a crotch; to give the form of a crotch to; as, to crotch the ends of ropes in splicing or tying knots. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

2. (Logging) To notch (a log) on opposite sides to provide a grip for the dogs in hauling. [Western, U. S.] [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

. (Logging) A form of tackle for loading a log sideways on a sled, skidway, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. 1. Having a crotch; forked. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Cross; peevish. [ Prov. Eng. ] Halliwell. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Billiards) Lying within a crotch; -- said of the object balls in the three-ball carom game whenever the centers of both lie within a 41/2-inch square at a corner of the table, in which case but three counts are allowed unless one or both balls be forced out of the crotch. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ F. crochet, prop., a little hook, a dim. from the same source as croc hook. See Crook, and cf. Crochet, Crocket, Crosier. ] 1. A forked support; a crotch. [ 1913 Webster ]

The crotchets of their cot in columns rise. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mus.) A time note, with a stem, having one fourth the value of a semibreve, one half that of a minim, and twice that of a quaver; a quarter note. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Fort.) An indentation in the glacis of the covered way, at a point where a traverse is placed. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mil.) The arrangement of a body of troops, either forward or rearward, so as to form a line nearly perpendicular to the general line of battle. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Print.) A bracket. See Bracket. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Med.) An instrument of a hooked form, used in certain cases in the extraction of a fetus. Dunglison. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A perverse fancy; a whim which takes possession of the mind; a conceit. [ 1913 Webster ]

He ruined himself and all that trusted in him by crotchets that he could never explain to any rational man. De Quincey. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To play music in measured time. [ Obs. ] Donne. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Marked or measured by crotchets; having musical notation. Harmar (1587). [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or character of being crotchety, or whimsical. [ 1913 Webster ]

This belief in rightness is a kind of conscientiousness, and when it degenerates it becomes crotchetiness. J. Grote. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Given to crotchets; subject to whims; as, a crotchety man. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Drossel. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Formerly, a housing or caparison for a horse. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

phr. [ phonetic transcription of colloquial speech. ] Got you; I got you; as, I gotcha!. [ PJC ]

Phonetic transcriptions of rapid colloquial speech are sometimes used in place of the grammatically proper spelling in order to provide a flavor of the original spirit of a spoken dialogue. See also the related entries for gonna, gotta, wanna, and wannabe. [ colloq., phonetic spelling ] [ PJC ]

n. [ phonetic transcription of colloquial speech, from got you. ] A situation in which a mistake by one person which is pointed out by another person; see gotcha, phr.. [ colloq., phonetic spelling ] [ PJC ]

2. A situation in which an error or indiscretion by one person is deliberately caused by another person -- a mild form of entrapment with malicious or humorous intent; as, he was furious to be the victim of a gotcha [ PJC ]

Kathleen "Kit" Gingrich (Sept. 23), 77, mother of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich . . . became famous as the victim of a "gotcha" interview by CBS's Connie Chung; the TV personality coaxed ("whisper it to me, just between you and me") out of Mrs. Gingrich a nasty comment attributed to her son concerning then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton -- and then aired it. World on the Web [ Obituary notice: October 4, 2003 ]. [ PJC ]

3. A situation or attribute which tends to cause one to make an error; as, one of the main gotchas in learning English is the frequency of non-phonetic spellings. [ PJC ]

n. A child's game, in which a player, hopping on one foot, drives a stone from one compartment to another of a figure traced or scotched on the ground; -- called also hoppers. [ 1913 Webster ]

ety>[ After Benjamin B. Hotchkiss (1826-85), American inventor. ] A built-up, rifled, rapid-fire gun of oil-tempered steel, having a rectangular breechblock which moves horizontally or vertically in a mortise cut completely through the jacket. It is made in France. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

{ } n. [ F. hochepot, fr. hocher to shake + pot pot; both of Dutch or German origin; cf. OD. hutspot hotchpotch, D. hotsen, hutsen, to shake. See Hustle, and Pot, and cf. Hodgepodge. ] 1. A mingled mass; a confused mixture; a stew of various ingredients; a hodgepodge. [ 1913 Webster ]

A mixture or hotchpotch of many tastes. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Law) A blending of property for equality of division, as when lands given in frank-marriage to one daughter were, after the death of the ancestor, blended with the lands descending to her and to her sisters from the same ancestor, and then divided in equal portions among all the daughters. In modern usage, a mixing together, or throwing into a common mass or stock, of the estate left by a person deceased and the amounts advanced to any particular child or children, for the purpose of a more equal division, or of equalizing the shares of all the children; the property advanced being accounted for at its value when given. Bouvier. Tomlins. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This term has been applied in cases of salvage. Story. It corresponds in a measure with collation in the civil and Scotch law. See Collation. Bouvier. Tomlins. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Hot + cockle, cockle being perh. corrupt. fr. knuckle. Cf. F. main chaude (lit., hot hand) hotcockles. ] A childish play, in which one covers his eyes, and guesses who strikes him or his hand placed behind him. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Idiocy. ] Idiocy. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Akin to nock; cf. OD. nock, OSw. nocka. Cf. Nick a notch. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A hollow cut in anything; a nick; an indentation. [ 1913 Webster ]

And on the stick ten equal notches makes. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A narrow passage between two elevations; a deep, close pass; a defile; as, the notch of a mountain. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Notched p. pr. & vb. n. Notching. ] 1. To cut or make notches in; to indent; also, to score by notches; as, to notch a stick. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fit the notch of (an arrow) to the string. [ 1913 Webster ]

God is all sufferance; here he doth show
No arrow notched, only a stringless bow. Herrick. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Carp.) The board which receives the ends of the steps in a staircase. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The act of making notches; the act of cutting into small hollows. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The small hollow, or hollows, cut; a notch or notches. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Carp.) A method of joining timbers, scantling, etc., by notching them, as at the ends, and overlapping or interlocking the notched portions. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Engin.) A method of excavating, as in a bank, by a series of cuttings side by side. See also Gulleting. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A foul-smelling weed, the stinking goosefoot (Chenopodium Vulvaria). [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ Cf. Poach to stab. ] To thrust; to push. [ Obs. ] “I 'll potch at him some way.” Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. See Poach, to cook. [ Obs. ] Wiseman. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, potches. [ 1913 Webster ]

Potcher engine (Paper Making), a machine in which washed rags are stirred in a bleaching solution. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A mass of parenchymatous cells which covers and protects the growing cells at the end of a root; a pileorhiza. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A very small arctic sea bird (Mergulus alle, or Alle alle) common on both coasts of the Atlantic in winter; -- called also little auk, dovekie, rotch, rotchie, and sea dove. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The European red gurnard (Trigla pini). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. Scottish. ] Of or pertaining to Scotland, its language, or its inhabitants; Scottish. [ 1913 Webster ]

Scotch broom (Bot.), the Cytisus scoparius. See Broom. --
Scotch dipper, or
Scotch duck (Zool.), the bufflehead; -- called also Scotch teal, and Scotchman. --
Scotch fiddle, the itch. [ Low ] Sir W. Scott. --
Scotch mist, a coarse, dense mist, like fine rain. --
Scotch nightingale (Zool.), the sedge warbler. [ Prov. Eng. ] --
Scotch pebble. See under pebble. --
Scotch pine (Bot.) See Riga fir. --
Scotch thistle (Bot.), a species of thistle (Onopordon acanthium); -- so called from its being the national emblem of the Scotch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The dialect or dialects of English spoken by the people of Scotland. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Collectively, the people of Scotland. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Scotched p. pr. & vb. n. Scotching. ] [ Cf. Prov. E. scote a prop, and Walloon ascot a prop, ascoter to prop, F. accoter, also Armor. skoaz the shoulder, skoazia to shoulder up, to prop, to support, W. ysgwydd a shoulder, ysgwyddo to shoulder. Cf. Scoat. ] [ Written also scoatch, scoat. ] To shoulder up; to prop or block with a wedge, chock, etc., as a wheel, to prevent its rolling or slipping. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A chock, wedge, prop, or other support, to prevent slipping; as, a scotch for a wheel or a log on inclined ground. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Probably the same word as scutch; cf. Norw. skoka, skoko, a swingle for flax; perhaps akin to E. shake. ] To cut superficially; to wound; to score. [ 1913 Webster ]

We have scotched the snake, not killed it. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Scotched collops (Cookery), a dish made of pieces of beef or veal cut thin, or minced, beaten flat, and stewed with onion and other condiments; -- called also Scotch collops. [ Written also scotcht collops. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A slight cut or incision; a score. Walton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Hopscotch. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Masonry) Dressing stone with a pick or pointed instrument. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Scotchmen 1. A native or inhabitant of Scotland; a Scot; a Scotsman. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) A piece of wood or stiff hide placed over shrouds and other rigging to prevent chafe by the running gear. Ham. Nav. Encyc. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Freemasonry) The ceremonial observed by one of the
Masonic systems, called in full the Ancient and Accepted Scotch Rite; also, the system itself, which confers thirty-three degrees, of which the first three are nearly identical with those of the York rite. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]