Definition

1. Verb:

   • To perform a task or job in a clumsy, unskilled, or careless way, resulting in a poor or failed outcome; to ruin something through incompetence.
   • To repair or make something in a crude, makeshift, or unprofessional manner.

2. Noun:

   • A task or piece of work that has been done badly or clumsily.
   • An embarrassing mistake or failure resulting from poor workmanship.

Usage

• As a verb (transitive): The word "botch" is typically followed by a direct object (the thing that is ruined or done poorly). It describes the action of spoiling something.
• As a noun (usually singular): It is often used with articles like "a" or "the" to describe the poor result itself.

Examples

• Verb:
  • I botched the presentation by forgetting my main points.
  • The tailor botched the alterations on my suit.
• Noun:
  • He made a complete botch of fixing the leak.
  • The surgery was a botch, and the patient needed further operations.

Advanced Usage

• "to botch up": A common phrasal verb with the same meaning as "botch," emphasizing the act of making something worse.
  • I'm afraid I've botched up the application form.
• "a botch job": A noun phrase describing work that is done very poorly.
  • The plumbing repair was a real botch job; it started leaking again the next day.

Variants and Related Words

• Botcher (noun): A person who does work badly or clumsily.
  • That carpenter is a known botcher; hire someone else.
• Botched (adjective): Describing something that has been ruined or done very poorly.
  • The botched robbery attempt was caught on camera.

Synonyms

• Verb: Bungle, flub, muff, spoil, ruin, mess up, screw up (informal), foul up (informal).
• Noun: Blunder, fiasco, mess, failure, hash.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Botch up: To ruin or do something very badly. (Synonymous with the base verb).
  • She botched up the recipe by adding salt instead of sugar.

Related Idioms

• Make a botch of something: To handle a task so poorly that it fails.
  • The new manager made a botch of the budget planning.

Noun

1. an embarrassing mistake

Verb

1. make a mess of, destroy or ruin
   • I botched the dinner and we had to eat out
   • the pianist screwed up the difficult passage in the second movement