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Chambers (1908)

Patch

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[Low Ger. patschen; prob. conn. with piece.]

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e-38699-2257

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Patch, pach, v.t. to mend by putting in a piece: to repair clumsily: to make up of pieces: to make hastily.—n. a piece sewed or put on to mend a defect: anything like a patch: a small piece of ground: a plot: (Shak.) a paltry fellow, a fool—properly a jester: (print.) an overlay to obtain a stronger impression: a small piece of black silk, &c., stuck by ladies on the face, to bring out the complexion by contrast—common in the 17th and 18th centuries.—adj. Patch′able.—ns. Patch′-box, a fancy box for holding the patches worn on the face, generally having a mirror inside the lid; Patch′er, one who patches; Patch′ery (Shak.), bungling work; Patch′work, work formed of patches or pieces sewed together: work patched up or clumsily executed.—adj. Patch′y, covered with patches: inharmonious, incongruous.—Not a patch on, not fit to be compared with. [Low Ger. patschen; prob. conn. with piece.]

Source locator ebook:38699;section:dictionary;paragraph:2276;continuation-paragraphs:0;html-characters:814263-815554

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  • Historical scholarship from 1908; not current consensus or editorial verification.
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  • Chambers consulted earlier dictionaries including Skeat and the New English Dictionary; overlapping claims are not independent scholarly votes.

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Edition, rights and traceability

Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language
Thomas Davidson (editor)
1908

Public-domain-US ↗ · United States

Publisher marks these historical texts public domain in the USA. Transformed book text excludes Gutenberg branding; source attribution is a bibliographic acknowledgment. No non-US public-domain determination is made.

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