botch

botch
botch vb Botch, bungle, fumble, muff, cobble mean to handle or treat awkwardly or unskillfully.
Botch may imply repairing or mending, but it frequently implies a making or forming by patching or by putting together out of pieces. It consistently suggests incompetence and a spoiling or marring of the thing produced, whatever its character
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botch a job

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an assemblage of ill-informed gentlemen who have botched every business they have ever undertaken— Shaw

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the suit was vilely botched and skimped . . . and now it was too late to remedy the defect— Wolfe

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Bungle implies ignorance, ineffectualness, or clumsiness in design or execution or an inability to use materials with skill or competence
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the plans were badly bungled

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he has completely bungled the matter

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some singularly excellent recordings side by side with some pretty bungled ones— P. H. Lang

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some Occupation officials said and did stupid things, and inexperience led to bunglingSat. Review

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Fumble stresses clumsy or unskillful use of the hands especially in uncertain attempts to reach, take, or grasp something or in groping in the dark for something
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a football player who seldom fumbles

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recovered himself, fumbled with his cap, and made a bow— Dickens

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his old fingers fumbling absently for the beard which wasn't there— Mary Austin

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so she fumbled about in the dim light, and brought her brother his bread and butter and meat— Deland

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Occasionally it suggests the awkward un-certainty not of hands or fingers but of mind or soul
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a hesitant speaker fumbling for the right words

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never fumbling with what she has to say, never . . . imperfectly presenting her thought— Arnold

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Muff, a word much used in sports, especially implies an unskillful performance or a bad play (as in catching a ball, firing a shot, or wielding a golf stick)
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muff a stroke

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he muffed the ball

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Consequently muff in more general use often means to fail by bungling or fumbling
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muff an opportunity

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he muffed his chances for the nomination

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Cobble is much like botch, though it basically implies the mending or patching of shoes; in more general use it stresses a patching or putting together of something in a crude or clumsy manner
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even generous critics . . . attribute to him a limit in narrative stamina ... his wind gave out too soon, forcing him to cobble things up out of tone—J. C. Furnas

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Analogous words: patch, *mend, repair: *treat, handle: multilate (see MAIM): wreck, *ruin

New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.

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  • Botch — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Ce terme peut désigner : Botch : un groupe de rock, Botch : un terme de catch. Botch : fou/folle en Occitan Ce document provient de «… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • botch-up — botch ups N COUNT: usu sing A botch up is the same as a botch. [INFORMAL] Tony Ward described the case as a sad botch up …   English dictionary

  • botch´i|ly — botch|y «BOCH ee», adjective, botch|i|er, botch|i|est. poorly made or done; botched. –botch´i|ly, adverb …   Useful english dictionary

  • botch|y — «BOCH ee», adjective, botch|i|er, botch|i|est. poorly made or done; botched. –botch´i|ly, adverb …   Useful english dictionary

  • Botch — Botch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Botched}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Botching}.] [See {Botch}, n.] 1. To mark with, or as with, botches. [1913 Webster] Young Hylas, botched with stains. Garth. [1913 Webster] 2. To repair; to mend; esp. to patch in a clumsy or… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Botch — may mean:* Botch (professional wrestling), a professional wrestling slang term for missing a scripted move * Botch (band), a mathcore band * Bungle or ruin. See in Wiktionary …   Wikipedia

  • botch — botch·ery; botch; botch·er; …   English syllables

  • Botch — Botch, n.; pl. {Botches}. [Same as Boss a stud. For senses 2 & 3 cf. D. botsen to beat, akin to E. beat.] 1. A swelling on the skin; a large ulcerous affection; a boil; an eruptive disease. [Obs. or Dial.] [1913 Webster] Botches and blains must… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Botch — Allgemeine Informationen Genre(s) Mathcore, Metalcore Gründung 1993 Auflösung 2002 Website …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • botch — [ batʃ ] or ,botch up verb transitive INFORMAL to do something very badly or carelessly: Police officers had botched the entire investigation. I ve botched this up in a couple of places …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

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