- to spoil through clumsiness or ineptitude
- to repair badly or clumsily
- Also called: botch-up a badly done piece of work or repair (esp in the phrase make a botch of (something))
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
botch1 /bɑtʃ/USA pronunciation
v.
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to spoil by poor or clumsy work;
bungle: [~ + object]He botched the throw to first base.[~ + up + object]He botched up every job we gave him.[~ + object + up]He botched it up; I can tell.[no object;
~ + up]He always botches up.
n. [countable]
- a poor piece of work;
mess;
bungle:He's made a real botch of that paint job.
botch1
(boch),USA pronunciation v.t.
n.
botch•ed•ly
(boch′id lē),USA pronunciation adv.
botch′er, n.
botch′er•y, n.
botch2 (boch),USA pronunciation n.
- to spoil by poor work; bungle (often fol. by up):He botched up the job thoroughly.
- to do or say in a bungling manner.
- to mend or patch in a clumsy manner.
n.
- a clumsy or poor piece of work;
mess;
bungle:He made a complete botch of his first attempt at baking. - a clumsily added part or patch.
- a disorderly or confused combination;
conglomeration.
- 1350–1400; Middle English bocchen to patch up; perh. to be identified with bocchen to swell up, bulge (verb, verbal derivative of bocche botch2), though sense development unclear
botch′er•y, n.
- 1. ruin, mismanage; muff, butcher, flub.
botch2 (boch),USA pronunciation n.
- a swelling on the skin;
a boil. - an eruptive disease.
- Old French boche, dialect, dialectal variant of boce boss2
- Middle English bocche 1350–1400
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
botch /bɒtʃ/ vb (transitive) often followed by up:
'botch' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):