tr.v., botched, botch·ing, botch·es.
- To ruin through clumsiness.
- To make or perform clumsily; bungle.
- To repair or mend clumsily.
- A ruined or defective piece of work: "I have made a miserable botch of this description" (Nathaniel Hawthorne).
- A hodgepodge.
[Middle English bocchen, to mend.]
botcher botch'er n.botchy botch'y adj.
SYNONYMS botch, blow, bungle, fumble, muff. These verbs mean to harm or spoil through inept or clumsy handling: botch a repair; blow an opportunity; bungle an interview; fumbled my chance to apologize; muffed the painting job.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
