Patch

/pæt͡ʃ/ name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to repair or strengthen it, especially upon an old garment to cover a hole.
  • Grammar: patch is listed as name, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: eyepatch, mend, piece, spot.
  • Useful contrasts: crannied, propagating tear, steady tearing.
  • Usage evidence: We've been through a rough patch, but I hope it will have made us stronger.

How to use "patch"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "patch" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "patch" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "patch" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "patch" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "patch" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "eyepatch" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "patch", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to repair or strengthen it, especially upon an old garment to cover a hole.

    "His sleeves had patches on the elbows where different fabric had been sewn on to replace material that had worn away."

  2. 2
    A paltry fellow; a rogue; a ninny; a fool. archaic

    "Shylock: The patch is kind enough, but a huge feeder, Snail-slow in profit, and he sleeps by day More than the wild-cat;[…]"

  3. 3
    a piece of soft material that covers and protects an injured part of the body wordnet
  4. 4
    A small piece of anything used to repair damage or a breach; as, a patch on a kettle, a roof, etc.

    "I can't afford to replace the roof, which is what it really needs. I'll have the roofer apply a patch."

  5. 5
    a protective cloth covering for an injured eye wordnet
Show 23 more definitions
  1. 6
    A piece of any size, used to repair something for a temporary period only, or that it is temporary because it is not meant to last long or will be removed as soon as a proper repair can be made, which will happen in the near future.

    "Before you can fix a dam, you have to apply a patch to the hole so that everything can dry off."

  2. 7
    sewing that repairs a worn or torn hole (especially in a garment) wordnet
  3. 8
    A small, usually contrasting but always somehow different or distinct, part of something else (location, time, size)

    "The world economy had a rough patch in the 1930s."

  4. 9
    a piece of cloth used as decoration or to mend or cover a hole wordnet
  5. 10
    A small area, a small plot of land or piece of ground. specifically

    "scattered patches of trees or growing corn"

  6. 11
    a connection intended to be used for a limited time wordnet
  7. 12
    A local region of professional responsibility.

    "There is a lot to be said in praise of the local or regional outlet that keeps very closely across the doings and news in their patch."

  8. 13
    a small contrasting part of something wordnet
  9. 14
    A small piece of black silk stuck on the face or neck to heighten beauty by contrast, worn by ladies in the 17th and 18th centuries; an imitation beauty mark. historical

    "Your black patches you wear variously."

  10. 15
    a short set of commands to correct a bug in a computer program wordnet
  11. 16
    A piece of material used to cover a wound.
  12. 17
    a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation wordnet
  13. 18
    An adhesive piece of material, impregnated with a drug, which is worn on the skin, the drug being slowly absorbed over a period of time.

    "Many people use a nicotine patch to wean themselves off of nicotine."

  14. 19
    a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition wordnet
  15. 20
    A cover worn over a damaged eye, an eyepatch.

    "He had scratched his cornea so badly that his doctor told him to wear a patch."

  16. 21
    A block on the muzzle of a gun, to do away with the effect of dispart, in sighting.
  17. 22
    A piece of data intended to modify a computer file by replacing a part of it.

    "Immediately following the incident Siemens commissioned a software patch that will allow units which protectively shut down below 49Hz to recover themselves without the need of a reboot or laptop when the frequency rises to 49.5Hz. At the beginning of September, this patch was being verified by Siemens software engineers at Erlangen in Germany."

  18. 23
    A small piece of material that is manually passed through a gun barrel to clean it.
  19. 24
    A piece of greased cloth or leather used as wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the bore.
  20. 25
    A cable connecting two pieces of electrical equipment. usually

    "soundboard patch"

  21. 26
    A sound setting for a musical synthesizer (originally selected by means of a patch cable).

    "A synthesizer comes with controls to store patches and edit them. Some high-end synthesizers even have floppy disks for additional patch storage."

  22. 27
    An overlay used to obtain a stronger impression. historical
  23. 28
    A butterfly of the genus Chlosyne.
Verb
  1. 1
    To mend by sewing on a piece or pieces of cloth, leather, or the like.

    "My coat needs patching."

  2. 2
    repair by adding pieces wordnet
  3. 3
    To mend with pieces; to repair by fastening pieces on.
  4. 4
    mend by putting a patch on wordnet
  5. 5
    To make out of pieces or patches, like a quilt.

    "I patched together this quilt."

Show 8 more definitions
  1. 6
    to join or unite the pieces of wordnet
  2. 7
    To join or unite the pieces of; to patch the skirt.
  3. 8
    provide with a patch; also used metaphorically wordnet
  4. 9
    To employ a temporary, removable electronic connection, as one between two components in a communications system.

    "[the control panel of hovercraft The Logos has lit up after being jumped by The Hammer] Sparky: She lives again. Crew member of The Hammer via radio: You want us to patch an uplink to reload the software, Sparky? Sparky: Yeah, that'd be swell. And can you clean the windshield while you're at it?"

  5. 10
    To repair or arrange in a hasty or clumsy manner

    "The truce between the two countries has been patched up."

  6. 11
    To make the changes a patch describes; to apply a patch to the files in question. Hence:; To fix or improve a computer program without a complete upgrade.
  7. 12
    To make the changes a patch describes; to apply a patch to the files in question. Hence:; To make a quick and possibly temporary change to a program.
  8. 13
    To connect two pieces of electrical equipment using a cable.

    "I'll need to patch the preamp output to the mixer."

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.

    "By the Master's report made in the said causes, dated the 18th of June, 1849, the said Master certified that the total amount then due and owing to the Plaintiff John Patch for such arrears of the annuities and annual payments of the said Susanna Jemima Hicks amounted to the sum of 4,489l. 15s.[…]"

Synonyms

All synonyms
eyepatchmendpiecespotworkaroundactinic ray

Antonyms

cranniedpropagating tearsteady tearingtattered

Example

"We've been through a rough patch, but I hope it will have made us stronger."

Common questions

What does "patch" mean?

A piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to repair or strengthen it, especially upon an old garment to cover a hole.

What is a synonym for "patch"?

Common synonyms include: eyepatch, mend, piece, spot, workaround, actinic ray.

How do you use "patch" in a sentence?

We've been through a rough patch, but I hope it will have made us stronger.

How do you pronounce "patch"?

Pronounced /pæt͡ʃ/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English patche, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of earlier Middle English placche (“patch, spot, piece of cloth”), from Old English *plæċċ, *pleċċ (“a spot, mark, patch”), from Proto-West Germanic *plakkju, from Proto-Germanic *plakjō (“spot, stain”). For the loss of l compare pat from Middle English platten. Germanic cognates would then include Middle English plecke, dialectal English pleck (“plot of ground, patch”), West Frisian plak (“place, spot”), Low German Plakk, Plakke (“spot, piece, patch”), Dutch plek (“spot, place, stain, patch”), Dutch plak (“piece, slab”), Swedish plagg (“garment”), Faroese plagg (“cloth, rag”). Or, possibly a variant of Old French pieche, dialectal variant of piece (“piece”). Compare also Old Occitan petaç (“patch”).

Etymology 2

Perhaps borrowed from Italian pazzo or paggio; the form influenced by folk etymological association with patch (Etymology 1).

Etymology 3

English and German surname of uncertain origin; perhaps from a nickname related to Peter.

More for "patch"

Synonyms

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