blot Hear it!

blot¹ Definition

blot (blät)

noun

  1. a spot or stain, esp. of ink
  2. anything that spoils or mars, esp. by providing an unpleasant contrast that shack is a blot on the landscape
  3. a moral stain; disgrace

Etymology: ME < ?

transitive verb blot′·ted, blot′·ting

  1. to make blots on; spot, stain, or blur
  2. to stain (a reputation); disgrace
  3. to erase or get rid of memories blotted from one's mind
  4. to dry by soaking up the wet liquid, as with blotting paper

intransitive verb

  1. to make blots
  2. to become blotted
  3. to be absorbent

blot¹ Idioms

blot out

  1. to darken or hide entirely; obscure
  2. to kill or destroy

blot² Definition

blot (blät)

noun

  1. Backgammon an exposed piece, liable to capture
  2. Archaic a weak point; fault; failing

Etymology: prob. < MDu bloot or Dan blot, naked, uncovered

blot Synonyms

blot

n.

spot, stain, smudge, splotch; see blemish, stain.

blot Synonyms

blot

v.

  1. To stain

    smudge, blotch, spatter, sully; see dirty, disgrace.

  2. To absorb

    soak up, dry, sponge; see absorb 1.

blot Usage Examples

Object

  • paper: Leave the paper in the water for 10 minutes, then press between the folds of clean blotting paper.
  • technique: Western blotting techniques were developed to assess the content of stress proteins in fibroblast cells.

Preposition: on

  • landscape: The only blot on the landscape was the failure to meet their jobs target.
  • horizon: There is only one blot on the horizon to come for Wenger's team in the next few decades, expert say.

Followed by an intransitive particle

out: Why should you blot out of your minds what you cannot blot out of the book of God?

Adjective modifier

  • Southern: Molecular genetic analysis of tumor cell DNA was done by Southern blot.
  • Western: The copy numbers of these Che proteins were accurately determined by quantitative Western blot.
  • western: Each gel and western blot contained this negative control antigen.
  • northern: Larger cDNAs fragments of two of the SSH clones have been used as probes on Northern blots and shown to be upregulated during infection.
  • black: I very early formed the impression that this black blot was rather the bright spot of the village.

Converse of object

  • dot: Results of dot blot and RT-PCR showed that one of the six samples was positive for HSVd.
  • leave: His thoughts were that it would be much worse to leave the blot further back.

Modifying Another Word

then: Leave to settle, then blot off any surface fat using several sheets of paper towel.

Modifies a noun

  • hybridization: Rapid detection of plant RNA viruses by dot blot hybridization.
  • test: Comments: Rorschach ink blot test Look a bit like a plate of dead worms.

Particle object:

  • sun: No cloud will ever blot out the sun again.
  • sky: More and more observing sites are being lost as the glare of city lighting blots out the night sky.
  • memory: Buki relied on pain to blot out the memories, often slashing herself with whatever sharp object was available.

Adjective complement

dry: Rinse the cucumber pieces and blot dry with kitchen paper.

Noun used with modifier

ink: If they get stuck give them a picture / ink blot to help them.