blot Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun a blemish made by dirt
smirch; slur; smear; spot; smudge; daub.
- he had a smudge on his cheek
noun an act that brings discredit to the person who does it
smear; smirch; spot; stain.
- he made a huge blot on his copybook
verb dry (ink) with blotting paper
verb make a spot or mark onto
fleck; spot; blob.
- The wine spotted the tablecloth

Cf. Dan. plette. See 3d Blot.

imperfect & past participle Blotted present participle & verbal noun Blotting

To spot, stain, or bespatter, as with ink.
The brief was writ and blotted all with gore. Gascoigne.
To impair; to damage; to mar; to soil.
It blots thy beauty, as frosts do bite the meads. Shak.
To stain with infamy; to disgrace.
Blot not thy innocence with guiltless blood. Rowe.
To obliterate, as writing with ink; to cancel; to efface; -- generally with out; as, to blot out a word or a sentence. Often figuratively; as, to blot out offenses.
One act like this blots out a thousand crimes. Dryden.
To obscure; to eclipse; to shadow.
He sung how earth blots the moon's gilded wane. Cowley.
To dry, as writing, with blotting paper. Syn. -- To obliterate; expunge; erase; efface; cancel; tarnish; disgrace; blur; sully; smear; smutch.

Cf. Icel. blettr, Dan. plet.

A spot or stain, as of ink on paper; a blur. "Inky blots and rotten parchment bonds." Shak.
An obliteration of something written or printed; an erasure. Dryden.
A spot on reputation; a stain; a disgrace; a reproach; a blemish.
This deadly blot in thy digressing son. Shak.

Cf. Dan. blot bare, naked, Sw. blott, d. bloot, G. bloss, and perh. E. bloat.

(Backgammon) (a) An exposure of a single man to be taken up. (b) A single man left on a point, exposed to be taken up.
He is too great a master of his art to make a blot which may be so easily hit. Dryden.
A weak point; a failing; an exposed point or mark.