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patch

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verb

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb patch contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of patch are mend, rebuild, and repair. While all these words mean "to put into good order something that is injured, damaged, or defective," patch implies an often temporary fixing of a hole or break with new material.

patch worn jeans

When can mend be used instead of patch?

While the synonyms mend and patch are close in meaning, mend implies making whole or sound something broken, torn, or injured.

mended the torn dress

When is it sensible to use rebuild instead of patch?

The words rebuild and patch are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, rebuild suggests making like new without completely replacing.

a rebuilt automobile engine

When would repair be a good substitute for patch?

The meanings of repair and patch largely overlap; however, repair applies to the fixing of more extensive damage or dilapidation.

repaired the back steps

Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of patch
Noun
Over the past few weeks, elephants had also destroyed her guava tree and her vegetable patch, prompting the family to abandon efforts to grow their own food. Tommy Trenchard, NPR, 8 Dec. 2024 Paul says his aunt told him Deborah had been stabbed, and there were patches of hair torn off her head. Anna Turning, NBC News, 8 Dec. 2024
Verb
This offseason appears little different from most recent offseasons for the Angels: patch some holes, add some depth, hope for a run at .500 and then some luck. Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 25 Nov. 2024 While leaders remain indifferent, the people endure: patching what’s broken, mourning what’s lost, and bracing for what’s next. Sarah Al Asmar, Orlando Sentinel, 24 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for patch 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for patch
Noun
  • The horse chestnut leaf blotch pathogen overwinters as fruiting bodies in leaves infected during the previous season.
    Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 3 Nov. 2024
  • This fungal disease appears as gray blotches on the bark, eventually developing into sunken cankers.
    Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 31 Oct. 2024
Noun
  • There were also no visible specks of spices like the Shamrock nog.
    Endia Fontanez, The Arizona Republic, 11 Dec. 2024
  • But a break in the case finally came in 2002 when the Contra Costa County forensic lab matched DNA in Kemp’s hair with the genetic makeup of a speck of blood found on one of Wiltsey’s fingernails.
    Jason Green, The Mercury News, 10 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • Mercury and Venus’ connection reveals how to repair the damage incurred over the past two days.
    USA TODAY, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2024
  • That optimistic outlook is much needed as invoices are still due on the marred merchandise, and the cost of cleanup efforts and repairing damage to the building owned by the Olde World Christmas Shoppe is hundreds of thousands of dollars.
    Jennifer Prince, Southern Living, 13 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • The light from numerous background stars, seen as orange dots behind the cloud, can be used to detect ices in the cloud, which absorb the starlight passing through them.
    Alan Taylor, The Atlantic, 13 Dec. 2024
  • Doe's story represents one small dot in a constellation of legal challenges faced by Combs, who is now awaiting trial in federal prison.
    Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY, 11 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • As on Android, the bulk of the app data is deleted to free up space, with key bits of information kept on your phone.
    David Nield, WIRED, 14 Dec. 2024
  • This understandable bit of gamesmanship has unintended consequences.
    Nate Jones, Vulture, 14 Dec. 2024
Verb
  • The solution isn’t fixing the other person but addressing the dynamic itself.
    Molly Peck, USA TODAY, 17 Dec. 2024
  • Woolford also recommended that parents not use threats to fix misbehavior.
    Julianna Bragg, CNN, 16 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • The other side: But concerns over water fluoridation have included fluorosis, when growing teeth are exposed to too much fluoride and develop white flecks or spots, and reduced IQ in children.
    Kale Williams, Axios, 25 Nov. 2024
  • The authors also noted that adding fluoride to drinking water may increase the number of people with dental fluorosis, a mostly cosmetic condition that can leave the teeth with white flecks, spots, or lines.
    Jamie Ducharme, TIME, 5 Nov. 2024
Noun
  • With 9 million residents, the county is the most populated in the United States, and those living along its beaches, on its inland coast and in several of its cities are under an air quality alert stemming from the particle pollution levels caused by fires.
    Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 12 Dec. 2024
  • Known as semi-Dirac fermions, particles with this bizarre behavior were first predicted 16 years ago.
    Michael Irving, New Atlas, 11 Dec. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near patch

Cite this Entry

“Patch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/patch. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

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