<B>patch, </B>noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a piece put on to mend a hole or a tear or to strengthen a weak place. <BR> <I>Ex. Many a patch of brown and grey variegated the faded scarlet of our uniform (Charles J. Lever).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a piece of cloth put over a wound or a sore. <BR> <I>Ex. a gauze patch held over a skinned elbow.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a pad over a hurt eye to protect it. <BR> <I>Ex. The man with the patch over his eye turned out to be a musicologist and composer (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a small bit of black cloth that ladies used to wear on their faces, especially in the 1600's and 1700's, to show off their fair skin. <DD><B> 5. </B>a small, uneven spot. <BR> <I>Ex. a patch of brown on the skin.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>a piece of ground. <BR> <I>Ex. a garden patch, a cabbage patch.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>a scrap or bit of cloth left over. <BR> <I>Ex. The quilt was made of colorful patches.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>a hookup for connecting a telephone line to a short-wave radio transmitter. <DD><B> 9. </B><B>=shoulder patch.</B> <DD><B> 10. </B>(Informal.) a dolt; booby. <DD><B> 11. </B>(U.S. Slang.) a lawyer. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to protect or adorn with a patch or patches; put patches on; mend. <BR> <I>Ex. to patch clothes.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to serve for mending. <BR> <I>Ex. O, that that earth ... Should patch a wall to expel the winter's flaw (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to make by joining patches or pieces together. <BR> <I>Ex. to patch a quilt; a miscellaneous old gentleman ... patched together, too, of different epochs, an epitome of times and fashions (Hawthorne).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to piece together; make hastily. <DD><I>v.i. </I> to mend clothes with patches. <BR><I>expr. <B>not a patch on,</B> </I>in no way comparable with; nowhere near. <BR> <I>Ex. But what had happened wasn't a patch on what might happen (Punch).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>patch up,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>to put an end to; settle. </I> <I>Ex. to patch up a quarrel.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to make right hastily or for a time. <BR> <I>Ex. to patch up a leaking faucet. They bought the aircraft in Australia, patched it up, and flew it to Britian, where it has had a complete overhaul (London Times).</I> <DD><B> c. </B>to put together hastily or poorly. <BR> <I>Ex. to patch up a costume for a play.</I> <DD><B> d. </B>to revise; amend. <BR> <I>Ex. The first decision that had to be made was whether the existing penal law could be satisfactorily patched up or whether a more basic change in its structure was needed (New York Times).</I> noun <B>patcher.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="patchboard">
<B>patchboard, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a removable panel in a computer or other electronic equipment having multiple electric terminals into which wires may be plugged in various ways according to the operation desired; patch panel; plugboard. </DL>
<A NAME="patchbox">
<B>patch box,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a small box for holding patches for the face, used especially in the 1600's and 1700's. </DL>
<A NAME="patchcord">
<B>patchcord, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> an electrical cord with plugs or clips at both ends, used to connect different parts of a sound system, or two different systems. Patchcords are used to connect the terminals of a patchboard. </DL>
<A NAME="patchery">
<B>patchery, </B>noun, pl. <B>-eries.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of patching; rough mending; hasty or clumsy patching together; botchery. <DD><B> 2. </B>something made by patching parts together. </DL>
<A NAME="patchily">
<B>patchily, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> in a patchy manner; irregularly; spasmodically. </DL>
<A NAME="patchiness">
<B>patchiness, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the condition of being patchy. </DL>
<A NAME="patching">
<B>patching, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of mending with a patch or patches. <DD><B> 2. </B>a patch, or patches collectively. <DD><B> 3. </B>wadding for a rifle. </DL>
<A NAME="patchouli">
<B>patchouli</B> or <B>patchouly, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a penetrating perfume derived from an East Indian plant. <DD><B> 2. </B>an East Indian plant of the mint family having an essential oil from which the perfume is obtained. </DL>
<A NAME="patchpanel">
<B>patch panel,</B> <B>=patchboard.</B></DL>
<A NAME="patchpocket">
<B>patch pocket,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a flat pocket made by sewing a piece of material, usually one of which the garment is made, on the outside of a garment. </DL>
<A NAME="patchtest">
<B>patch test,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a test for allergy to a particular substance, made by applying the substance to a small area of unbroken skin, usually by means of pads. </DL>
<A NAME="patchup">
<B>patch-up, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>makeshift. <BR> <I>Ex. Usually this is a patch-up kind of job (Atlantic).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>restorative; remedial. <BR> <I>Ex. The Administration is now looking to the Senate for some major patch-up work on its housing program (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="patchwork">
<B>patchwork, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>pieces of cloth of various colors or shapes sewed together by the edges. <BR> <I>Ex. She made a cover of patchwork for the cushion.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>anything like this. <BR> <I>Ex. From the airplane we saw a patchwork of fields and woods.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) anything made of fragments; jumble. <BR> <I>Ex. His memoirs were an amateurishly arranged patchwork of reminiscences.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="patchy">
<B>patchy, </B>adjective, <B>patchier,</B> <B>patchiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>abounding in or characterized by patches. <BR> <I>Ex. land patchy with rock.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>occurring in, forming, or resembling patches. <BR> <I>Ex. a patchy growth of corn.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) <DD><B> a. </B>made up of fragments, usually put together hurriedly. <BR> <I>Ex. a patchy excuse or story.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>uneven; spotty. <BR> <I>Ex. As a critic, Professor Ray is patchy and rather incurious (Manchester Guardian).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="patd">
<B>patd.,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> patented. </DL>
<A NAME="pate">
<B>pate</B> (1), noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>the head. <BR> <I>Ex. Let him to the Tower, And chop away that factious pate of his (Shakespeare).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the top of the head. <BR> <I>Ex. a bald pate.</I> (SYN) crown. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) brains. <BR> <I>Ex. a notion fit for an idiot's pate.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) a person with brains. <BR> <I>Ex. a shallow pate.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="pate">
<B>pate</B> (2), noun. <B>=pate.</B></DL>
<A NAME="pate">
<B>pate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>paste (1). <DD><B> 2. </B>pottery or porcelain paste used in ceramics. </DL>
<A NAME="pate">
<B>pate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a paste of finely chopped meat, liver, or the like, with spices and herbs, often served chilled and sliced. <BR> <I>Ex. A superb pate made of saddle of hare, a chicken, a duck, two red partridges ... and a score of other ingredients (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a case or form of pastry filled with chicken, sweetbreads, oysters, etc.; patty. </DL>
<A NAME="pated">
<B>-pated,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (combining form.) having a ______pate. <BR> <I>Ex. Empty-pated = having an empty pate.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="patedefoiegras">
<B>pate de foie gras,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) a patty or paste made with livers of specially fattened geese and usually finely chopped truffles. <BR> <I>Ex. It was worth its weight in pate de foie gras (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="patella">
<B>patella, </B>noun, pl. <B>-tellas,</B> <B>-tellae.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B><B>=kneecap.</B> <DD><B> 2. </B>a small pan or shallow vessel. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Biology.) a structure in the form of a shallow pan or cup, such as the spore-bearing structure of certain lichens. </DL>
<A NAME="patellar">
<B>patellar, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having to do with the kneecap. <BR> <I>Ex. The knee jerk is a patellar reflex.</I> </DL>
<B>patelliform, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> having the form of a patella; shaped like a shallow pan, kneecap, or limpet shell. </DL>
<A NAME="patemaison">
<B>pate maison,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (French.) the patty or paste that is the specialty of a particular restaurant. </DL>
<A NAME="paten">
<B>paten, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the plate on which the bread is placed at the celebration of the Eucharist, or Mass. <DD><B> 2. </B>a plate or flat piece of metal. Also, <B>patin,</B> <B>patina,</B> <B>patine.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="patency">
<B>patency, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the state of being patent; obviousness. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Medicine.) (of a passage) the condition of being open or unobstructed. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Phonetics.) openness in varying degrees of the breath passage, characteristic of all sounds but stops. </DL>
