Definition of blot in English:

blot

nounPlural blots blɒtblɑt

1A dark mark or stain made by ink, paint, dirt, etc.
a blot of ink
Example sentencesExamples
- Its white breast was bordered by broad dark swaths and had a dark blot right in the center.
- Red blots of paint covered the soldiers' uniforms.
- I turned and saw a dark blot on the snow meandering slowly towards us down the bank, which after a moment resolved itself into a ragged man leading a pair of mules.
- He held up his paper, revealing a large blot of ink in the middle of his letter.
- I switch on the light and, before crossing the threshold, I scan the room for dark blots that aren't supposed to be there.
- Her first piece in this mode was Peggy Lee and the Dalmatian, which comprises 18 puddles of fabric stained with black blots that are distributed in different densities and compositional drifts from sheet to sheet.
- He wrote that he knew the topography of each book's blots and dog ears and could trace the dirt in it to having read it with tea and buttered muffins.
- A closer look reveals entire nighttime cityscapes embedded in the blots of paint, glimpses of Paris, Hong Kong, Prague, and other cities from Park's travels.
- That is truly a blot of ink and not a name, my lord.
- Jill's face and neck, already sweaty and pink from running, became covered in red blots.
- This almost monochrome work ranges from black to gray-blue to white, with a few blots of red.
- Crucially, there were two faint marks in the text that could either be full stops or else accidental blots of ink, thereby casting doubt on the intended meaning of the text.
- A few blots of cloud were on the blue morning sky, with light haze beneath.
- The big purple blot is settlement.
- His technique involved a painstaking process of multiple drawings, precise geometry and carefully applied blots of paint, often taking months.
- It was more sensed than seen, a darker blot in the gale-lashed dark, and he frowned and raised one hand, trying vainly to shield his eyes in an effort to see better.
- On a lower shelf stands a small piece of clear Plexiglas upon which yellow blots have been painted.
- The road that we traveled now was an old shepherds' route that would soon split into two paths, one that curved towards the north and another that continued east through a dark blot that at first glance looked like a smudge on the page.
- He was hard at work on his magnum opus: a painting, six feet tall, of the Savior's slaughter on the cross, a feral Pollockian image simultaneously repelling and exhilarating; the colors clamored in crimsons and yellows, blacks and speckled, blue blots.
- It appeared as a blot against the pale blue sky, shrinking steadily until it vanished completely.
Synonyms
spot, dot, mark, speck, fleck, blotch, smudge, patch, dab, smut, splash, smear, streak
informal splotch, splodge
1. 1.1 A shameful act or quality that damages an otherwise good character or reputation.
  the only blot on an otherwise clean campaign
  Example sentencesExamples
  The school administrators and teachers should work together to remove this political and intellectual blot.
  The closest thing to a blot on the Private Eye editor's escutcheon seems to be his failure to seek planning permission for alterations to his 16th century timber-framed home.
  He added: ‘It's been an eyesore and blot on the centre of Earby town centre for far too many years.’
  ‘It is a breach of faith with the world's poor, and a blot of dishonour on our international reputation,’ she said.
  None of this is to say that massacres were other than a blot, but rather that a little context does no harm.
  This is a man who was deputy national security advisor, national security advisor to Ronald Reagan, chairman of the joint chiefs, and here he considers this a blot on his record of public service.
  But the long-term effects appeared to be a new blot on his already tarnished record and a setback for the opposition, which failed to keep its promise of a nonviolent demonstration.
  But slavery was challenged from the very beginning of this country's origins as a blot upon the nation's moral character.
  Author David K. Wyatt shows no fear and honestly describes the self indulgences, cronyism and corruption that have been a blot on this nation's politics for many, many decades.
  Nor is there any effort from the so-called distinguished agricultural scientists, economists, and social scientists to come out with proposals to put an end to this shameful blot on the country's image.
  I paid compensation and it was a blot on my character, but it was a one-off.
  Not only did you rob her of her bag but you injured her and the offence has left an appalling blot upon her memory.
  This is almost universally regarded as a shameful blot on America's history, a cautionary tale of racism, paranoia, and wartime hysteria.
  It appears this is quite acceptable to an establishment that was too fastidious to allow clever and dedicated men without a blot on their characters, who happened to be hereditary peers, to legislate for us.
  The damage done by the road construction is a blot on the page of our proud military history.
  It is an indelible part of his CV, a blot on a distinguished public career, a piquant episode for the more mischievous obituarists eventually to recount.
  He is also said to be squeaky clean, which helps erase the blot on the party's reputation caused by his predecessor, who was forced out due to allegedly shady business practices.
  But somehow he himself appears to have escaped personal criticism for this blot on his reign as Pope.
  The victory was to be further blotted when it later transpired that he had used a banned substance before the fight resulting to him being slapped with a six-month suspension.
  It would be the greatest disservice to India and a blot which could take years to erase.
  Synonyms
  blemish, taint, flaw, fault, defect, stain, tarnishing, imperfection, blight
  disgrace, dishonour, stigma, brand, slur
2. 1.2 A thing that mars the appearance of something.
  wind power turbines are a blot on the landscape
  Example sentencesExamples
  Meanwhile, a 25-metre phone mast in Gilstead, which protesters said would be a blot on the landscape, is also set to be approved.
  Today relieved residents - who claimed the mast would pose unacceptable health risks and create a blot on the landscape - were celebrating a ‘victory for common sense.’
  Since in life they climbed mountains or visited remote spots precisely to get away from the tat of everyday life, it can be presumed that they would be most upset to find that, in death, they had caused a blot on the landscape themselves.
  Also, a bridge would have to satisfy an environmental assessment, to determine whether it would be a blot on the landscape.
  They believe that the wind farm will be a blot on the landscape, will be noisy and will result in a loss of green space for people who use and enjoy the countryside, such as walkers, cyclists and horse riders.
  It would be a blot on the landscape and has potential health and safety risks.
  They are worried the mast would become a blot on the landscape and fear the health hazard from radiation emissions.
  Wind turbines have proved hugely controversial in rural settings, where campaigners have branded them a blot on the landscape and complained about noise.
  I don't think it will be a blot on the landscape because it is hidden away.
  The action followed a lengthy campaign by some local people who were unhappy about the site and said it was a blot on the landscape.
  There's not a lot of countryside where people can walk around here and these turbines would be a blot on the landscape.
  Their action comes amid concerns that mobile phone masts pose possible health risks and that the the 15-metre high structure under consideration would be a blot on the landscape.
  He said people should be determined to fight ‘this blot on our landscape’ even if calls for a public inquiry failed.
  ‘It's within a stone's throw of the Leeds-Liverpool canal conservation area, a listed mill building, a popular walking route and it would be a blot on the landscape,’ he said.
  And it has done it without being a blot on the landscape as it crosses a river and three peat bogs and cuts through a landfill site before squeezing its way past the town centre alongside a road, railway and canal.
  Not really a head-turner, the bike makes up for the blots in the beauty department, with its gizmo-like qualities!
  Despite numerous calls to the council's cleansing and park departments it remains a blot on the landscape.
  But it had become a blot on the landscape for so long because it was underused.
  Opponents claim that the 100 metre-high turbines, along with the transmission lines, underground cables and substations needed to transmit the electricity to the main network, are a blot on the landscape.
  The now derelict site, next to one of England's most treasured heritage sites, has been a blot on the landscape since the Jolly Boatman pub was demolished.
  Synonyms
  eyesore, monstrosity, carbuncle, atrocity, horror, mess
  informal sight
2Biochemistry
A procedure in which proteins or nucleic acids separated on a gel are transferred directly to an immobilizing medium for identification.
Example sentencesExamples
- After collecting the last samples, protein extracts were prepared and protein gel blot was performed.
- For each dot blot, bovine protein extract was loaded as a negative control and human saliva as a positive control.
- The protein blot results for these high-expressing lines are shown in Figure 5B.
- To detect other antigens present on these blots, no ‘stripping’ was performed.
- We prepared total protein extracts from staged populations of animals and analyzed them by protein blot.

verbblots, blotted, blotting blɒtblɑt

[with object]

1Dry (a wet surface or substance) using an absorbent material.
Henry blotted the page
Example sentencesExamples
- The section surface was rinsed with distilled water and gently blotted with wipes for a few seconds to remove the excess liquid.
- You can also use it for blotting handwashed clothes to dry overnight.
- Areas that are too wet with the turpenoid can be carefully blotted with a cotton swab, or an unappealing value can be lifted with a cotton swab dabbed in turpenoid.
- Then, dip the sponge into the glaze and then blot off all extra paint with newspaper or paper towels.
- The tissue samples were rinsed in ice-cold normal saline and were blotted.
- Fresh material was rinsed in deionized water and blotted carefully with tissue paper.
- After blotting away the excess of lipid, the grids were plunged in liquid ethane.
- When you have finished applying the second coat of lipstick, blot the centre of your lips.
- A little colour also washes out of heavily toned prints, which should be blotted or squeegeed after washing, so the colour does not continue to bleed.
- After grids were blotted and air-dried, the samples were stained.
- Walls were blotted with absorbent paper before being lowered into the oil.
- And as he continues - a flashlight jerry-rigged under his arm - he sets about blotting things dry, one by one, with a flowered sponge.
- The doctor pulled out a handkerchief to blot the stain from his slacks.
- Sculptured finishes may require use of a soft nylon - bristled brush in a rotating motion to get the detergent solution into all the crevices; blot up with absorbent cloth or paper towel, and rinse.
- And he blots his face now, to prove to us he is not oily!
- Keep clean cloths nearby and blot away pools of stain that might be near the painters' tape.
- And fortunately enough, I just blotted my oily face so I'm quite sure I looked my prime.
- Wild-type and transgenic leaves, from each treatment plate in the previously described study, were blotted dry and weighed.
- Rather, just blot the stain and call a professional carpet cleaner who is trained to use specific solutions or a heat transfer, which uses steam and a solution to transfer the fugitive dye to a cotton towel.
- She blotted her lips on a tissue, like I'd seen Aunt Jean do, then hooked my arm in hers.
Synonyms
soak up, absorb, take up, suck up, draw up, sponge up, mop up, sop up
dry up, dry out
dab, pat, press
2Mark or stain (something)
dark patches of dirt blotted the grey dress
Example sentencesExamples
- My hand is shaking as I write, and I fear that these pages will be blotted.
- And towering above them all, you have one of the dozens of cranes that continue to blot our capital's skyline, and no doubt will continue to do so for years to come.
- Some of the ink had blotted already, spattered with black blood as it was - but it was still readable.
Synonyms
smudge, smear, spot, blotch, dot, mark, speckle, bespatter
1. 2.1 Damage the good character or reputation of.
  the turmoil blotted his memory of the school
  Example sentencesExamples
  An interesting encounter awaits them this weekend, when they entertain Ridge Rangers at home, will they be the first to blot their excellent record.
  Aware that I had unwittingly become the first person to blot his unblemished track record, I got the feeling as we parted he won't be rushing to return anymore of my phone calls.
  It tapped the growing middle class anger with corruption, and civil society's urge to tackle the warts that blot the country's emergence as a progressive, modern nation.
  These, a helpful warden explains, belong to those who blotted their escutcheons as often as not with a royal lady with whom they should not have and were stripped of their honours.
  Not all athletes deserve our scepticism, and the Essendon captain, particularly, does not deserve a genuine goodness to be blotted by one misdemeanour.
  Mishaps too numerous and familiar to mention have blotted the Dear Leader's credentials as a tribune of the People.
  In view of the recent judgements and the stand taken on crucial issues it is hoped that the court will uphold the honour and prestige of a great nation so blatantly blotted by the blind evil forces.
  His early career was blotted with incidents of violent physical retaliation for hard tackles against him sometimes resulting in his spending many games on the sideline, having been issued with red cards.
  Synonyms
  tarnish, taint, stain, blacken, sully, smear, mar
3blot something outCover writing or pictures with ink or paint so that they cannot be seen.
Mary dug her brush into black paint and blotted out her picture
Example sentencesExamples
- Whenever the sight of her father's murder arose, she imagined a black paint brush going over the scene to blot it out.
- In the Edinburgh University Library copy, it appears that a phallic symbol drawn on the king has been blotted over and has been transferred to the title page.
- Rather than employing digital trickery or using the old-fashioned method of re-editing, he elected to blot out the offending material by a huge red block.
- I have thought of blotting these words out with sand and starting again, but the Goddess speaks powerfully in me, and makes me bow my head to Her will.
- Look how they keep on killing us, those people, may their names be blotted out.
Synonyms
erase, obliterate, delete, efface, rub out, wipe out, blank out, remove all traces of, expunge, eliminate
cancel, cross out, strike out
1. 3.1 Obscure a view.
  a dust shield blotting out the sun
  Example sentencesExamples
  But tonight the stars are blotted out by a huge searchlight arcing across the sky from the south.
  The pair could be seen talking in the front of a vehicle, though the policeman's face was blotted out.
  Looking up into the mid water region presented a warm green glow which modulated in brightness as the sun was blotted out by frequent clouds.
  Jade grew cold as the sun was blotted out from behind the clouds and everything grew dark.
  Neighbours complained that the state of the house and garden depressed property prices and even made it impossible to grow vegetables in gardens because the sun was blotted out.
  He then apparently set out in more detail what he'd like to do next, but this proved too much for The Sun, which blotted it out.
  Just then the lavender sunlight was blotted out of the sky as the rain came pouring down in thick, heavy sheets.
  An ‘impact winter’ would follow in which the Sun's life-giving light would be blotted out for years by the debris thrown up by the explosion.
  The sky above them was a dark milky black, the stars blotted out by the snow clouds.
  Within the hour, the entire Moon was blotted out by Earth's shadow.
  Nor do the planets escape alignment with the Moon: because they occupy a restricted band about the ecliptic, they, too, are frequently blotted out for a brief time.
  The red clouds above turned black, and the sun was blotted out even though it was noon.
  Those ones where the sky is completely grey except for a bright spot where the sun is blotted out and the rain comes and goes.
  The jackhammers start at 7:30, shortly after the morning sun is blotted out by enormous pick-up trucks the workers drive.
  Shouting from up ahead and the sun was blotted out for a few seconds as we passed through a gatehouse.
  For three days, dense black clouds of smoke blotted out the sun over a wide stretch of the Italian coast.
  The video screens were blotted out by the clouds, displaying only swirling mists and droplets of moisture punctuated by a flash as lightning rippled through a cloud.
  Images on the screens were often blotted out when people near the projector stood up.
  The problem is that the sun would be blotted out.
  The Sun shone from directly behind the Mountain, which partially blotted it out.
  Synonyms
  conceal, hide, obscure, exclude, obliterate, erase
  darken, dim, shadow, eclipse, cast a shadow over
2. 3.2 Obliterate or disregard something painful in one's memory or existence.
  the concentration necessary to her job blotted out all the feelings
  Example sentencesExamples
  The man, a university graduate, told police after the crash that he could not understand why he had hit the cyclist who was not more than 0.5 metres from the kerb and Mr. Chapman said since then he had blotted the accident from his mind.
  Wil stepped back from the locker with a muttered curse, slamming the locker closed as Vicki turned away, mouth covered and eyes tightly closed, trying to blot out the memory.
  And the answer that a rational mind then says, well, he is in the midst of this and he is just blotting this out of his brain.
  The absolutely lowest moment of the series was in, I think, an episode for which the title has been blotted out of my memory.
  Indeed, in our modern mindset, we take the notion of the tormentor and merely blot it out, wishing away its existence without really addressing the underlying causes.
  No matter how painful it can be, it would be impossible to blot out my last memory of Sophie, standing on the far side of the room dressed in her school uniform.
  I try to blot it out, but it's something you just can't get out of your mind.
  Go or be blotted out as abominable in mine sight!
  It blotted out memories of that floodlit game there last season when they beat us before it got dark enough to turn on the lights.
  I didn't feel safe anywhere and I took more drugs to blot things out.
  I am a lucky man as much as my job is difficult and depressing at times, I don't get to the end of the week and have the same kind of urgency to blot everything out and release five days worth of pressure and frustration.
  That's why he never thanked you personally, that would have meant recognizing that he had been ill, and his way of coping was to try and blot it from his mind.
  We have the means and enough reasons to blot this bogeyman out of existence.
  In his defence, he declares that the death of his mother, Sylvia, from leukaemia, when he was only 16, sparked a compulsion to blot everything out, whatever the damage to his own body.
  Taking a deep breath, the soldier shut his eyes, as if to blot out some unnerving memory.
  Plenty of prisoners only go on heroin after they get inside, rationally concluding that a long stretch in a vile environment is best blotted out.
  That is not to say that his memory was blotted out.
  You blot these cases out of your memory as soon as you have done them.
  You're incapable of dealing with the emotion yourself, so you have to resort to something to blot it out.
  Two years ago, the pain of a prior opening week having been blotted from my consciousness by some defence mechanism, I accepted an invitation for the Saturday at the end of the opening week.
  Synonyms
  wipe out, erase, efface, eradicate, obliterate, expunge, destroy, exterminate
4Biochemistry
Transfer by means of a blot.
Example sentencesExamples
- The DNA fragments are transferred or blotted to a nylon or nitrocellulose paper and baked to bind the single stranded DNA to the paper.
- First, after electrophoresis of the proteins through a polyacrylamide gel, they are transferred by blotting to a porous membrane sheet.
- I have purified, cloned, sub-cloned, transfected, blotted and detected DNA.
- Eighteen candidate clones from the genomic library were digested with a series of restriction enzymes, Southern blotted, and hybridized with the same probe.
- DNAs were digested with restriction enzymes, separated on agarose gel, and blotted onto a nylon membrane.

Phrases

blot one's copybook

Tarnish one's good reputation.
she saw her sister blot her copybook by being quoted in the press
Example sentencesExamples
- Although analysts are bullish on the banks, it would be all too easy for bad debt jitters to blot their copy books.
- Who wants to blot their copybook with one of the country's biggest donors?
- The big all-rounder produced another impressive bowling performance on the first day of the Championship match against Kent, but blotted his copybook by dropping a tricky slip chance late in the day.
- It blotted its copybook by issuing a couple of profits warnings, but it still has £2bn in the bank so its shares could go higher from this level.
- Hasn't he just blotted his copybook in his dotage by coming out in favour of nuclear power?
- Over 800 years the family only once blotted its copybook.
- He blotted his copybook at Horsfall by making himself unavailable for Tuesday's game at Harrogate.
- Another has blotted his copybook on his two most recent starts after a promising start to his chasing career.
- It would have been a ludicrous way for Liverpool's biggest summer signing to blot his copybook as his ambitious move began to gain all the hallmarks of a beautiful relationship.
- There are only two minor plateaus blotting her copybook - one in early February and one in mid-April.
- If they blot their copybook, it could be refused.
- But he blotted his copybook when he pulled Ronaldo's shirt to concede the penalty.
- However, the big striker blotted his copybook on his return missing a penalty in 29 minutes.
- Thus, with capital freely moving into every potential nook and cranny, countries which have blotted their copybook, or have no copybook at all, are suffering disproportionately.
- Nobody expects him to get a big government rail job - he blotted his copybook with civil servants over English Heritage - though his experience would make him an obvious choice.
- Youthful, knowledgeable, approachable and enthusiastic but he soon blotted his copybook with both the players and the media.
- But if you haven't blotted your copybook to quite that extent then you could probably improve the look of your files in as little as six months.
- My take was that his new-found partisanship blotted the copybook of his former life.
- Because genuine accidents do occur, the police, not wanting to blot their copy book, write it off.
- An odd lapse or two blotted an otherwise impressive copybook
Synonyms
tarnish, sully, blacken, stain, besmirch, smear, blot, blemish, stigmatize, mar, corrupt, defile, soil, muddy, foul, dirty, damage, injure, harm, hurt, debase, infect, poison, vitiate, drag through the mud, blot one's copybook

Origin

Late Middle English: probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Old Norse blettr.

Rhymes

allot, begot, Bernadotte, bot, capot, clot, cocotte, cot, culotte, dot, forgot, garrotte (US garrote), gavotte, got, grot, hot, jot, knot, lot, Mayotte, motte, not, Ott, outshot, plot, pot, rot, sans-culotte, Scot, Scott, shallot, shot, slot, snot, sot, spot, squat, stot, swat, swot, tot, trot, undershot, Wat, Watt, what, wot, yacht

Definition of blot in US English:

blot

nounblɑtblät

1A dark mark or stain, typically one made by ink, paint, or dirt.
a blot of ink
Example sentencesExamples
- It was more sensed than seen, a darker blot in the gale-lashed dark, and he frowned and raised one hand, trying vainly to shield his eyes in an effort to see better.
- I turned and saw a dark blot on the snow meandering slowly towards us down the bank, which after a moment resolved itself into a ragged man leading a pair of mules.
- A few blots of cloud were on the blue morning sky, with light haze beneath.
- He was hard at work on his magnum opus: a painting, six feet tall, of the Savior's slaughter on the cross, a feral Pollockian image simultaneously repelling and exhilarating; the colors clamored in crimsons and yellows, blacks and speckled, blue blots.
- This almost monochrome work ranges from black to gray-blue to white, with a few blots of red.
- Its white breast was bordered by broad dark swaths and had a dark blot right in the center.
- Jill's face and neck, already sweaty and pink from running, became covered in red blots.
- Red blots of paint covered the soldiers' uniforms.
- Her first piece in this mode was Peggy Lee and the Dalmatian, which comprises 18 puddles of fabric stained with black blots that are distributed in different densities and compositional drifts from sheet to sheet.
- He held up his paper, revealing a large blot of ink in the middle of his letter.
- A closer look reveals entire nighttime cityscapes embedded in the blots of paint, glimpses of Paris, Hong Kong, Prague, and other cities from Park's travels.
- That is truly a blot of ink and not a name, my lord.
- Crucially, there were two faint marks in the text that could either be full stops or else accidental blots of ink, thereby casting doubt on the intended meaning of the text.
- The big purple blot is settlement.
- It appeared as a blot against the pale blue sky, shrinking steadily until it vanished completely.
- I switch on the light and, before crossing the threshold, I scan the room for dark blots that aren't supposed to be there.
- His technique involved a painstaking process of multiple drawings, precise geometry and carefully applied blots of paint, often taking months.
- The road that we traveled now was an old shepherds' route that would soon split into two paths, one that curved towards the north and another that continued east through a dark blot that at first glance looked like a smudge on the page.
- He wrote that he knew the topography of each book's blots and dog ears and could trace the dirt in it to having read it with tea and buttered muffins.
- On a lower shelf stands a small piece of clear Plexiglas upon which yellow blots have been painted.
Synonyms
spot, dot, mark, speck, fleck, blotch, smudge, patch, dab, smut, splash, smear, streak
1. 1.1 A shameful act or quality that tarnishes an otherwise good character or reputation.
  the only blot on an otherwise clean campaign
  Example sentencesExamples
  Not only did you rob her of her bag but you injured her and the offence has left an appalling blot upon her memory.
  But the long-term effects appeared to be a new blot on his already tarnished record and a setback for the opposition, which failed to keep its promise of a nonviolent demonstration.
  The victory was to be further blotted when it later transpired that he had used a banned substance before the fight resulting to him being slapped with a six-month suspension.
  The school administrators and teachers should work together to remove this political and intellectual blot.
  The closest thing to a blot on the Private Eye editor's escutcheon seems to be his failure to seek planning permission for alterations to his 16th century timber-framed home.
  It is an indelible part of his CV, a blot on a distinguished public career, a piquant episode for the more mischievous obituarists eventually to recount.
  He added: ‘It's been an eyesore and blot on the centre of Earby town centre for far too many years.’
  It appears this is quite acceptable to an establishment that was too fastidious to allow clever and dedicated men without a blot on their characters, who happened to be hereditary peers, to legislate for us.
  This is a man who was deputy national security advisor, national security advisor to Ronald Reagan, chairman of the joint chiefs, and here he considers this a blot on his record of public service.
  But somehow he himself appears to have escaped personal criticism for this blot on his reign as Pope.
  But slavery was challenged from the very beginning of this country's origins as a blot upon the nation's moral character.
  This is almost universally regarded as a shameful blot on America's history, a cautionary tale of racism, paranoia, and wartime hysteria.
  None of this is to say that massacres were other than a blot, but rather that a little context does no harm.
  He is also said to be squeaky clean, which helps erase the blot on the party's reputation caused by his predecessor, who was forced out due to allegedly shady business practices.
  It would be the greatest disservice to India and a blot which could take years to erase.
  I paid compensation and it was a blot on my character, but it was a one-off.
  ‘It is a breach of faith with the world's poor, and a blot of dishonour on our international reputation,’ she said.
  Author David K. Wyatt shows no fear and honestly describes the self indulgences, cronyism and corruption that have been a blot on this nation's politics for many, many decades.
  Nor is there any effort from the so-called distinguished agricultural scientists, economists, and social scientists to come out with proposals to put an end to this shameful blot on the country's image.
  The damage done by the road construction is a blot on the page of our proud military history.
  Synonyms
  blemish, taint, flaw, fault, defect, stain, tarnishing, imperfection, blight
2. 1.2Biochemistry A procedure in which proteins or nucleic acids separated on a gel are transferred directly to an immobilizing medium for identification.
  Example sentencesExamples
  To detect other antigens present on these blots, no ‘stripping’ was performed.
  For each dot blot, bovine protein extract was loaded as a negative control and human saliva as a positive control.
  We prepared total protein extracts from staged populations of animals and analyzed them by protein blot.
  After collecting the last samples, protein extracts were prepared and protein gel blot was performed.
  The protein blot results for these high-expressing lines are shown in Figure 5B.

verbblɑtblät

[with object]

1Dry (a wet surface or substance) using an absorbent material.
Guy blotted his face with a dust rag
Example sentencesExamples
- And he blots his face now, to prove to us he is not oily!
- Then, dip the sponge into the glaze and then blot off all extra paint with newspaper or paper towels.
- Rather, just blot the stain and call a professional carpet cleaner who is trained to use specific solutions or a heat transfer, which uses steam and a solution to transfer the fugitive dye to a cotton towel.
- When you have finished applying the second coat of lipstick, blot the centre of your lips.
- The section surface was rinsed with distilled water and gently blotted with wipes for a few seconds to remove the excess liquid.
- After blotting away the excess of lipid, the grids were plunged in liquid ethane.
- Keep clean cloths nearby and blot away pools of stain that might be near the painters' tape.
- She blotted her lips on a tissue, like I'd seen Aunt Jean do, then hooked my arm in hers.
- Sculptured finishes may require use of a soft nylon - bristled brush in a rotating motion to get the detergent solution into all the crevices; blot up with absorbent cloth or paper towel, and rinse.
- Wild-type and transgenic leaves, from each treatment plate in the previously described study, were blotted dry and weighed.
- Areas that are too wet with the turpenoid can be carefully blotted with a cotton swab, or an unappealing value can be lifted with a cotton swab dabbed in turpenoid.
- After grids were blotted and air-dried, the samples were stained.
- The doctor pulled out a handkerchief to blot the stain from his slacks.
- You can also use it for blotting handwashed clothes to dry overnight.
- A little colour also washes out of heavily toned prints, which should be blotted or squeegeed after washing, so the colour does not continue to bleed.
- Walls were blotted with absorbent paper before being lowered into the oil.
- And fortunately enough, I just blotted my oily face so I'm quite sure I looked my prime.
- The tissue samples were rinsed in ice-cold normal saline and were blotted.
- Fresh material was rinsed in deionized water and blotted carefully with tissue paper.
- And as he continues - a flashlight jerry-rigged under his arm - he sets about blotting things dry, one by one, with a flowered sponge.
Synonyms
soak up, absorb, take up, suck up, draw up, sponge up, mop up, sop up
2Mark or stain (something)
dark patches of dirt blotted the gray dress
Example sentencesExamples
- My hand is shaking as I write, and I fear that these pages will be blotted.
- Some of the ink had blotted already, spattered with black blood as it was - but it was still readable.
- And towering above them all, you have one of the dozens of cranes that continue to blot our capital's skyline, and no doubt will continue to do so for years to come.
Synonyms
smudge, smear, spot, blotch, dot, mark, speckle, bespatter
tarnish, taint, stain, blacken, sully, smear, mar
1. 2.1 Tarnish the good character or reputation of.
  the turmoil blotted his memory of the school
  Example sentencesExamples
  Mishaps too numerous and familiar to mention have blotted the Dear Leader's credentials as a tribune of the People.
  Aware that I had unwittingly become the first person to blot his unblemished track record, I got the feeling as we parted he won't be rushing to return anymore of my phone calls.
  In view of the recent judgements and the stand taken on crucial issues it is hoped that the court will uphold the honour and prestige of a great nation so blatantly blotted by the blind evil forces.
  Not all athletes deserve our scepticism, and the Essendon captain, particularly, does not deserve a genuine goodness to be blotted by one misdemeanour.
  These, a helpful warden explains, belong to those who blotted their escutcheons as often as not with a royal lady with whom they should not have and were stripped of their honours.
  An interesting encounter awaits them this weekend, when they entertain Ridge Rangers at home, will they be the first to blot their excellent record.
  It tapped the growing middle class anger with corruption, and civil society's urge to tackle the warts that blot the country's emergence as a progressive, modern nation.
  His early career was blotted with incidents of violent physical retaliation for hard tackles against him sometimes resulting in his spending many games on the sideline, having been issued with red cards.
  Synonyms
  tarnish, taint, stain, blacken, sully, smear, mar
3blot something outCover writing or pictures with ink or paint so that they cannot be seen.
Example sentencesExamples
- Rather than employing digital trickery or using the old-fashioned method of re-editing, he elected to blot out the offending material by a huge red block.
- I have thought of blotting these words out with sand and starting again, but the Goddess speaks powerfully in me, and makes me bow my head to Her will.
- Whenever the sight of her father's murder arose, she imagined a black paint brush going over the scene to blot it out.
- In the Edinburgh University Library copy, it appears that a phallic symbol drawn on the king has been blotted over and has been transferred to the title page.
- Look how they keep on killing us, those people, may their names be blotted out.
Synonyms
erase, obliterate, delete, efface, rub out, wipe out, blank out, remove all traces of, expunge, eliminate
1. 3.1 Obscure a view.
  a dust shield blotting out the sun
  Example sentencesExamples
  Jade grew cold as the sun was blotted out from behind the clouds and everything grew dark.
  Images on the screens were often blotted out when people near the projector stood up.
  Just then the lavender sunlight was blotted out of the sky as the rain came pouring down in thick, heavy sheets.
  Those ones where the sky is completely grey except for a bright spot where the sun is blotted out and the rain comes and goes.
  Nor do the planets escape alignment with the Moon: because they occupy a restricted band about the ecliptic, they, too, are frequently blotted out for a brief time.
  Within the hour, the entire Moon was blotted out by Earth's shadow.
  He then apparently set out in more detail what he'd like to do next, but this proved too much for The Sun, which blotted it out.
  The Sun shone from directly behind the Mountain, which partially blotted it out.
  The problem is that the sun would be blotted out.
  An ‘impact winter’ would follow in which the Sun's life-giving light would be blotted out for years by the debris thrown up by the explosion.
  But tonight the stars are blotted out by a huge searchlight arcing across the sky from the south.
  Looking up into the mid water region presented a warm green glow which modulated in brightness as the sun was blotted out by frequent clouds.
  The sky above them was a dark milky black, the stars blotted out by the snow clouds.
  The red clouds above turned black, and the sun was blotted out even though it was noon.
  Neighbours complained that the state of the house and garden depressed property prices and even made it impossible to grow vegetables in gardens because the sun was blotted out.
  For three days, dense black clouds of smoke blotted out the sun over a wide stretch of the Italian coast.
  Shouting from up ahead and the sun was blotted out for a few seconds as we passed through a gatehouse.
  The pair could be seen talking in the front of a vehicle, though the policeman's face was blotted out.
  The video screens were blotted out by the clouds, displaying only swirling mists and droplets of moisture punctuated by a flash as lightning rippled through a cloud.
  The jackhammers start at 7:30, shortly after the morning sun is blotted out by enormous pick-up trucks the workers drive.
  Synonyms
  conceal, hide, obscure, exclude, obliterate, erase
2. 3.2 Obliterate or disregard something painful in one's memory or existence.
  the concentration necessary to her job blotted out all the feelings
  Example sentencesExamples
  Two years ago, the pain of a prior opening week having been blotted from my consciousness by some defence mechanism, I accepted an invitation for the Saturday at the end of the opening week.
  No matter how painful it can be, it would be impossible to blot out my last memory of Sophie, standing on the far side of the room dressed in her school uniform.
  Indeed, in our modern mindset, we take the notion of the tormentor and merely blot it out, wishing away its existence without really addressing the underlying causes.
  It blotted out memories of that floodlit game there last season when they beat us before it got dark enough to turn on the lights.
  I try to blot it out, but it's something you just can't get out of your mind.
  Wil stepped back from the locker with a muttered curse, slamming the locker closed as Vicki turned away, mouth covered and eyes tightly closed, trying to blot out the memory.
  We have the means and enough reasons to blot this bogeyman out of existence.
  And the answer that a rational mind then says, well, he is in the midst of this and he is just blotting this out of his brain.
  In his defence, he declares that the death of his mother, Sylvia, from leukaemia, when he was only 16, sparked a compulsion to blot everything out, whatever the damage to his own body.
  I didn't feel safe anywhere and I took more drugs to blot things out.
  The absolutely lowest moment of the series was in, I think, an episode for which the title has been blotted out of my memory.
  That's why he never thanked you personally, that would have meant recognizing that he had been ill, and his way of coping was to try and blot it from his mind.
  Taking a deep breath, the soldier shut his eyes, as if to blot out some unnerving memory.
  Plenty of prisoners only go on heroin after they get inside, rationally concluding that a long stretch in a vile environment is best blotted out.
  I am a lucky man as much as my job is difficult and depressing at times, I don't get to the end of the week and have the same kind of urgency to blot everything out and release five days worth of pressure and frustration.
  That is not to say that his memory was blotted out.
  You blot these cases out of your memory as soon as you have done them.
  Go or be blotted out as abominable in mine sight!
  The man, a university graduate, told police after the crash that he could not understand why he had hit the cyclist who was not more than 0.5 metres from the kerb and Mr. Chapman said since then he had blotted the accident from his mind.
  You're incapable of dealing with the emotion yourself, so you have to resort to something to blot it out.
  Synonyms
  wipe out, erase, efface, eradicate, obliterate, expunge, destroy, exterminate
4Biochemistry
Transfer by means of a blot.
Example sentencesExamples
- I have purified, cloned, sub-cloned, transfected, blotted and detected DNA.
- Eighteen candidate clones from the genomic library were digested with a series of restriction enzymes, Southern blotted, and hybridized with the same probe.
- DNAs were digested with restriction enzymes, separated on agarose gel, and blotted onto a nylon membrane.
- First, after electrophoresis of the proteins through a polyacrylamide gel, they are transferred by blotting to a porous membrane sheet.
- The DNA fragments are transferred or blotted to a nylon or nitrocellulose paper and baked to bind the single stranded DNA to the paper.

Origin

Late Middle English: probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Old Norse blettr.

单词	blot
释义	Definition of blot in English: blot nounPlural blots blɒtblɑt 1A dark mark or stain made by ink, paint, dirt, etc. a blot of ink Example sentencesExamples Its white breast was bordered by broad dark swaths and had a dark blot right in the center. Red blots of paint covered the soldiers' uniforms. I turned and saw a dark blot on the snow meandering slowly towards us down the bank, which after a moment resolved itself into a ragged man leading a pair of mules. He held up his paper, revealing a large blot of ink in the middle of his letter. I switch on the light and, before crossing the threshold, I scan the room for dark blots that aren't supposed to be there. Her first piece in this mode was Peggy Lee and the Dalmatian, which comprises 18 puddles of fabric stained with black blots that are distributed in different densities and compositional drifts from sheet to sheet. He wrote that he knew the topography of each book's blots and dog ears and could trace the dirt in it to having read it with tea and buttered muffins. A closer look reveals entire nighttime cityscapes embedded in the blots of paint, glimpses of Paris, Hong Kong, Prague, and other cities from Park's travels. That is truly a blot of ink and not a name, my lord. Jill's face and neck, already sweaty and pink from running, became covered in red blots. This almost monochrome work ranges from black to gray-blue to white, with a few blots of red. Crucially, there were two faint marks in the text that could either be full stops or else accidental blots of ink, thereby casting doubt on the intended meaning of the text. A few blots of cloud were on the blue morning sky, with light haze beneath. The big purple blot is settlement. His technique involved a painstaking process of multiple drawings, precise geometry and carefully applied blots of paint, often taking months. It was more sensed than seen, a darker blot in the gale-lashed dark, and he frowned and raised one hand, trying vainly to shield his eyes in an effort to see better. On a lower shelf stands a small piece of clear Plexiglas upon which yellow blots have been painted. The road that we traveled now was an old shepherds' route that would soon split into two paths, one that curved towards the north and another that continued east through a dark blot that at first glance looked like a smudge on the page. He was hard at work on his magnum opus: a painting, six feet tall, of the Savior's slaughter on the cross, a feral Pollockian image simultaneously repelling and exhilarating; the colors clamored in crimsons and yellows, blacks and speckled, blue blots. It appeared as a blot against the pale blue sky, shrinking steadily until it vanished completely. Synonyms spot, dot, mark, speck, fleck, blotch, smudge, patch, dab, smut, splash, smear, streak informal splotch, splodge 1.1 A shameful act or quality that damages an otherwise good character or reputation. the only blot on an otherwise clean campaign Example sentencesExamples The school administrators and teachers should work together to remove this political and intellectual blot. The closest thing to a blot on the Private Eye editor's escutcheon seems to be his failure to seek planning permission for alterations to his 16th century timber-framed home. He added: ‘It's been an eyesore and blot on the centre of Earby town centre for far too many years.’ ‘It is a breach of faith with the world's poor, and a blot of dishonour on our international reputation,’ she said. None of this is to say that massacres were other than a blot, but rather that a little context does no harm. This is a man who was deputy national security advisor, national security advisor to Ronald Reagan, chairman of the joint chiefs, and here he considers this a blot on his record of public service. But the long-term effects appeared to be a new blot on his already tarnished record and a setback for the opposition, which failed to keep its promise of a nonviolent demonstration. But slavery was challenged from the very beginning of this country's origins as a blot upon the nation's moral character. Author David K. Wyatt shows no fear and honestly describes the self indulgences, cronyism and corruption that have been a blot on this nation's politics for many, many decades. Nor is there any effort from the so-called distinguished agricultural scientists, economists, and social scientists to come out with proposals to put an end to this shameful blot on the country's image. I paid compensation and it was a blot on my character, but it was a one-off. Not only did you rob her of her bag but you injured her and the offence has left an appalling blot upon her memory. This is almost universally regarded as a shameful blot on America's history, a cautionary tale of racism, paranoia, and wartime hysteria. It appears this is quite acceptable to an establishment that was too fastidious to allow clever and dedicated men without a blot on their characters, who happened to be hereditary peers, to legislate for us. The damage done by the road construction is a blot on the page of our proud military history. It is an indelible part of his CV, a blot on a distinguished public career, a piquant episode for the more mischievous obituarists eventually to recount. He is also said to be squeaky clean, which helps erase the blot on the party's reputation caused by his predecessor, who was forced out due to allegedly shady business practices. But somehow he himself appears to have escaped personal criticism for this blot on his reign as Pope. The victory was to be further blotted when it later transpired that he had used a banned substance before the fight resulting to him being slapped with a six-month suspension. It would be the greatest disservice to India and a blot which could take years to erase. Synonyms blemish, taint, flaw, fault, defect, stain, tarnishing, imperfection, blight disgrace, dishonour, stigma, brand, slur 1.2 A thing that mars the appearance of something. wind power turbines are a blot on the landscape Example sentencesExamples Meanwhile, a 25-metre phone mast in Gilstead, which protesters said would be a blot on the landscape, is also set to be approved. Today relieved residents - who claimed the mast would pose unacceptable health risks and create a blot on the landscape - were celebrating a ‘victory for common sense.’ Since in life they climbed mountains or visited remote spots precisely to get away from the tat of everyday life, it can be presumed that they would be most upset to find that, in death, they had caused a blot on the landscape themselves. Also, a bridge would have to satisfy an environmental assessment, to determine whether it would be a blot on the landscape. They believe that the wind farm will be a blot on the landscape, will be noisy and will result in a loss of green space for people who use and enjoy the countryside, such as walkers, cyclists and horse riders. It would be a blot on the landscape and has potential health and safety risks. They are worried the mast would become a blot on the landscape and fear the health hazard from radiation emissions. Wind turbines have proved hugely controversial in rural settings, where campaigners have branded them a blot on the landscape and complained about noise. I don't think it will be a blot on the landscape because it is hidden away. The action followed a lengthy campaign by some local people who were unhappy about the site and said it was a blot on the landscape. There's not a lot of countryside where people can walk around here and these turbines would be a blot on the landscape. Their action comes amid concerns that mobile phone masts pose possible health risks and that the the 15-metre high structure under consideration would be a blot on the landscape. He said people should be determined to fight ‘this blot on our landscape’ even if calls for a public inquiry failed. ‘It's within a stone's throw of the Leeds-Liverpool canal conservation area, a listed mill building, a popular walking route and it would be a blot on the landscape,’ he said. And it has done it without being a blot on the landscape as it crosses a river and three peat bogs and cuts through a landfill site before squeezing its way past the town centre alongside a road, railway and canal. Not really a head-turner, the bike makes up for the blots in the beauty department, with its gizmo-like qualities! Despite numerous calls to the council's cleansing and park departments it remains a blot on the landscape. But it had become a blot on the landscape for so long because it was underused. Opponents claim that the 100 metre-high turbines, along with the transmission lines, underground cables and substations needed to transmit the electricity to the main network, are a blot on the landscape. The now derelict site, next to one of England's most treasured heritage sites, has been a blot on the landscape since the Jolly Boatman pub was demolished. Synonyms eyesore, monstrosity, carbuncle, atrocity, horror, mess informal sight 2Biochemistry A procedure in which proteins or nucleic acids separated on a gel are transferred directly to an immobilizing medium for identification. Example sentencesExamples After collecting the last samples, protein extracts were prepared and protein gel blot was performed. For each dot blot, bovine protein extract was loaded as a negative control and human saliva as a positive control. The protein blot results for these high-expressing lines are shown in Figure 5B. To detect other antigens present on these blots, no ‘stripping’ was performed. We prepared total protein extracts from staged populations of animals and analyzed them by protein blot. verbblots, blotted, blotting blɒtblɑt [with object] 1Dry (a wet surface or substance) using an absorbent material. Henry blotted the page Example sentencesExamples The section surface was rinsed with distilled water and gently blotted with wipes for a few seconds to remove the excess liquid. You can also use it for blotting handwashed clothes to dry overnight. Areas that are too wet with the turpenoid can be carefully blotted with a cotton swab, or an unappealing value can be lifted with a cotton swab dabbed in turpenoid. Then, dip the sponge into the glaze and then blot off all extra paint with newspaper or paper towels. The tissue samples were rinsed in ice-cold normal saline and were blotted. Fresh material was rinsed in deionized water and blotted carefully with tissue paper. After blotting away the excess of lipid, the grids were plunged in liquid ethane. When you have finished applying the second coat of lipstick, blot the centre of your lips. A little colour also washes out of heavily toned prints, which should be blotted or squeegeed after washing, so the colour does not continue to bleed. After grids were blotted and air-dried, the samples were stained. Walls were blotted with absorbent paper before being lowered into the oil. And as he continues - a flashlight jerry-rigged under his arm - he sets about blotting things dry, one by one, with a flowered sponge. The doctor pulled out a handkerchief to blot the stain from his slacks. Sculptured finishes may require use of a soft nylon - bristled brush in a rotating motion to get the detergent solution into all the crevices; blot up with absorbent cloth or paper towel, and rinse. And he blots his face now, to prove to us he is not oily! Keep clean cloths nearby and blot away pools of stain that might be near the painters' tape. And fortunately enough, I just blotted my oily face so I'm quite sure I looked my prime. Wild-type and transgenic leaves, from each treatment plate in the previously described study, were blotted dry and weighed. Rather, just blot the stain and call a professional carpet cleaner who is trained to use specific solutions or a heat transfer, which uses steam and a solution to transfer the fugitive dye to a cotton towel. She blotted her lips on a tissue, like I'd seen Aunt Jean do, then hooked my arm in hers. Synonyms soak up, absorb, take up, suck up, draw up, sponge up, mop up, sop up dry up, dry out dab, pat, press 2Mark or stain (something) dark patches of dirt blotted the grey dress Example sentencesExamples My hand is shaking as I write, and I fear that these pages will be blotted. And towering above them all, you have one of the dozens of cranes that continue to blot our capital's skyline, and no doubt will continue to do so for years to come. Some of the ink had blotted already, spattered with black blood as it was - but it was still readable. Synonyms smudge, smear, spot, blotch, dot, mark, speckle, bespatter 2.1 Damage the good character or reputation of. the turmoil blotted his memory of the school Example sentencesExamples An interesting encounter awaits them this weekend, when they entertain Ridge Rangers at home, will they be the first to blot their excellent record. Aware that I had unwittingly become the first person to blot his unblemished track record, I got the feeling as we parted he won't be rushing to return anymore of my phone calls. It tapped the growing middle class anger with corruption, and civil society's urge to tackle the warts that blot the country's emergence as a progressive, modern nation. These, a helpful warden explains, belong to those who blotted their escutcheons as often as not with a royal lady with whom they should not have and were stripped of their honours. Not all athletes deserve our scepticism, and the Essendon captain, particularly, does not deserve a genuine goodness to be blotted by one misdemeanour. Mishaps too numerous and familiar to mention have blotted the Dear Leader's credentials as a tribune of the People. In view of the recent judgements and the stand taken on crucial issues it is hoped that the court will uphold the honour and prestige of a great nation so blatantly blotted by the blind evil forces. His early career was blotted with incidents of violent physical retaliation for hard tackles against him sometimes resulting in his spending many games on the sideline, having been issued with red cards. Synonyms tarnish, taint, stain, blacken, sully, smear, mar 3blot something outCover writing or pictures with ink or paint so that they cannot be seen. Mary dug her brush into black paint and blotted out her picture Example sentencesExamples Whenever the sight of her father's murder arose, she imagined a black paint brush going over the scene to blot it out. In the Edinburgh University Library copy, it appears that a phallic symbol drawn on the king has been blotted over and has been transferred to the title page. Rather than employing digital trickery or using the old-fashioned method of re-editing, he elected to blot out the offending material by a huge red block. I have thought of blotting these words out with sand and starting again, but the Goddess speaks powerfully in me, and makes me bow my head to Her will. Look how they keep on killing us, those people, may their names be blotted out. Synonyms erase, obliterate, delete, efface, rub out, wipe out, blank out, remove all traces of, expunge, eliminate cancel, cross out, strike out 3.1 Obscure a view. a dust shield blotting out the sun Example sentencesExamples But tonight the stars are blotted out by a huge searchlight arcing across the sky from the south. The pair could be seen talking in the front of a vehicle, though the policeman's face was blotted out. Looking up into the mid water region presented a warm green glow which modulated in brightness as the sun was blotted out by frequent clouds. Jade grew cold as the sun was blotted out from behind the clouds and everything grew dark. Neighbours complained that the state of the house and garden depressed property prices and even made it impossible to grow vegetables in gardens because the sun was blotted out. He then apparently set out in more detail what he'd like to do next, but this proved too much for The Sun, which blotted it out. Just then the lavender sunlight was blotted out of the sky as the rain came pouring down in thick, heavy sheets. An ‘impact winter’ would follow in which the Sun's life-giving light would be blotted out for years by the debris thrown up by the explosion. The sky above them was a dark milky black, the stars blotted out by the snow clouds. Within the hour, the entire Moon was blotted out by Earth's shadow. Nor do the planets escape alignment with the Moon: because they occupy a restricted band about the ecliptic, they, too, are frequently blotted out for a brief time. The red clouds above turned black, and the sun was blotted out even though it was noon. Those ones where the sky is completely grey except for a bright spot where the sun is blotted out and the rain comes and goes. The jackhammers start at 7:30, shortly after the morning sun is blotted out by enormous pick-up trucks the workers drive. Shouting from up ahead and the sun was blotted out for a few seconds as we passed through a gatehouse. For three days, dense black clouds of smoke blotted out the sun over a wide stretch of the Italian coast. The video screens were blotted out by the clouds, displaying only swirling mists and droplets of moisture punctuated by a flash as lightning rippled through a cloud. Images on the screens were often blotted out when people near the projector stood up. The problem is that the sun would be blotted out. The Sun shone from directly behind the Mountain, which partially blotted it out. Synonyms conceal, hide, obscure, exclude, obliterate, erase darken, dim, shadow, eclipse, cast a shadow over 3.2 Obliterate or disregard something painful in one's memory or existence. the concentration necessary to her job blotted out all the feelings Example sentencesExamples The man, a university graduate, told police after the crash that he could not understand why he had hit the cyclist who was not more than 0.5 metres from the kerb and Mr. Chapman said since then he had blotted the accident from his mind. Wil stepped back from the locker with a muttered curse, slamming the locker closed as Vicki turned away, mouth covered and eyes tightly closed, trying to blot out the memory. And the answer that a rational mind then says, well, he is in the midst of this and he is just blotting this out of his brain. The absolutely lowest moment of the series was in, I think, an episode for which the title has been blotted out of my memory. Indeed, in our modern mindset, we take the notion of the tormentor and merely blot it out, wishing away its existence without really addressing the underlying causes. No matter how painful it can be, it would be impossible to blot out my last memory of Sophie, standing on the far side of the room dressed in her school uniform. I try to blot it out, but it's something you just can't get out of your mind. Go or be blotted out as abominable in mine sight! It blotted out memories of that floodlit game there last season when they beat us before it got dark enough to turn on the lights. I didn't feel safe anywhere and I took more drugs to blot things out. I am a lucky man as much as my job is difficult and depressing at times, I don't get to the end of the week and have the same kind of urgency to blot everything out and release five days worth of pressure and frustration. That's why he never thanked you personally, that would have meant recognizing that he had been ill, and his way of coping was to try and blot it from his mind. We have the means and enough reasons to blot this bogeyman out of existence. In his defence, he declares that the death of his mother, Sylvia, from leukaemia, when he was only 16, sparked a compulsion to blot everything out, whatever the damage to his own body. Taking a deep breath, the soldier shut his eyes, as if to blot out some unnerving memory. Plenty of prisoners only go on heroin after they get inside, rationally concluding that a long stretch in a vile environment is best blotted out. That is not to say that his memory was blotted out. You blot these cases out of your memory as soon as you have done them. You're incapable of dealing with the emotion yourself, so you have to resort to something to blot it out. Two years ago, the pain of a prior opening week having been blotted from my consciousness by some defence mechanism, I accepted an invitation for the Saturday at the end of the opening week. Synonyms wipe out, erase, efface, eradicate, obliterate, expunge, destroy, exterminate 4Biochemistry Transfer by means of a blot. Example sentencesExamples The DNA fragments are transferred or blotted to a nylon or nitrocellulose paper and baked to bind the single stranded DNA to the paper. First, after electrophoresis of the proteins through a polyacrylamide gel, they are transferred by blotting to a porous membrane sheet. I have purified, cloned, sub-cloned, transfected, blotted and detected DNA. Eighteen candidate clones from the genomic library were digested with a series of restriction enzymes, Southern blotted, and hybridized with the same probe. DNAs were digested with restriction enzymes, separated on agarose gel, and blotted onto a nylon membrane. Phrases blot one's copybook Tarnish one's good reputation. she saw her sister blot her copybook by being quoted in the press Example sentencesExamples Although analysts are bullish on the banks, it would be all too easy for bad debt jitters to blot their copy books. Who wants to blot their copybook with one of the country's biggest donors? The big all-rounder produced another impressive bowling performance on the first day of the Championship match against Kent, but blotted his copybook by dropping a tricky slip chance late in the day. It blotted its copybook by issuing a couple of profits warnings, but it still has £2bn in the bank so its shares could go higher from this level. Hasn't he just blotted his copybook in his dotage by coming out in favour of nuclear power? Over 800 years the family only once blotted its copybook. He blotted his copybook at Horsfall by making himself unavailable for Tuesday's game at Harrogate. Another has blotted his copybook on his two most recent starts after a promising start to his chasing career. It would have been a ludicrous way for Liverpool's biggest summer signing to blot his copybook as his ambitious move began to gain all the hallmarks of a beautiful relationship. There are only two minor plateaus blotting her copybook - one in early February and one in mid-April. If they blot their copybook, it could be refused. But he blotted his copybook when he pulled Ronaldo's shirt to concede the penalty. However, the big striker blotted his copybook on his return missing a penalty in 29 minutes. Thus, with capital freely moving into every potential nook and cranny, countries which have blotted their copybook, or have no copybook at all, are suffering disproportionately. Nobody expects him to get a big government rail job - he blotted his copybook with civil servants over English Heritage - though his experience would make him an obvious choice. Youthful, knowledgeable, approachable and enthusiastic but he soon blotted his copybook with both the players and the media. But if you haven't blotted your copybook to quite that extent then you could probably improve the look of your files in as little as six months. My take was that his new-found partisanship blotted the copybook of his former life. Because genuine accidents do occur, the police, not wanting to blot their copy book, write it off. An odd lapse or two blotted an otherwise impressive copybook Synonyms tarnish, sully, blacken, stain, besmirch, smear, blot, blemish, stigmatize, mar, corrupt, defile, soil, muddy, foul, dirty, damage, injure, harm, hurt, debase, infect, poison, vitiate, drag through the mud, blot one's copybook Origin Late Middle English: probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Old Norse blettr. Rhymes allot, begot, Bernadotte, bot, capot, clot, cocotte, cot, culotte, dot, forgot, garrotte (US garrote), gavotte, got, grot, hot, jot, knot, lot, Mayotte, motte, not, Ott, outshot, plot, pot, rot, sans-culotte, Scot, Scott, shallot, shot, slot, snot, sot, spot, squat, stot, swat, swot, tot, trot, undershot, Wat, Watt, what, wot, yacht noun.1 phr. Definition of blot in US English: blot nounblɑtblät 1A dark mark or stain, typically one made by ink, paint, or dirt. a blot of ink Example sentencesExamples It was more sensed than seen, a darker blot in the gale-lashed dark, and he frowned and raised one hand, trying vainly to shield his eyes in an effort to see better. I turned and saw a dark blot on the snow meandering slowly towards us down the bank, which after a moment resolved itself into a ragged man leading a pair of mules. A few blots of cloud were on the blue morning sky, with light haze beneath. He was hard at work on his magnum opus: a painting, six feet tall, of the Savior's slaughter on the cross, a feral Pollockian image simultaneously repelling and exhilarating; the colors clamored in crimsons and yellows, blacks and speckled, blue blots. This almost monochrome work ranges from black to gray-blue to white, with a few blots of red. Its white breast was bordered by broad dark swaths and had a dark blot right in the center. Jill's face and neck, already sweaty and pink from running, became covered in red blots. Red blots of paint covered the soldiers' uniforms. Her first piece in this mode was Peggy Lee and the Dalmatian, which comprises 18 puddles of fabric stained with black blots that are distributed in different densities and compositional drifts from sheet to sheet. He held up his paper, revealing a large blot of ink in the middle of his letter. A closer look reveals entire nighttime cityscapes embedded in the blots of paint, glimpses of Paris, Hong Kong, Prague, and other cities from Park's travels. That is truly a blot of ink and not a name, my lord. Crucially, there were two faint marks in the text that could either be full stops or else accidental blots of ink, thereby casting doubt on the intended meaning of the text. The big purple blot is settlement. It appeared as a blot against the pale blue sky, shrinking steadily until it vanished completely. I switch on the light and, before crossing the threshold, I scan the room for dark blots that aren't supposed to be there. His technique involved a painstaking process of multiple drawings, precise geometry and carefully applied blots of paint, often taking months. The road that we traveled now was an old shepherds' route that would soon split into two paths, one that curved towards the north and another that continued east through a dark blot that at first glance looked like a smudge on the page. He wrote that he knew the topography of each book's blots and dog ears and could trace the dirt in it to having read it with tea and buttered muffins. On a lower shelf stands a small piece of clear Plexiglas upon which yellow blots have been painted. Synonyms spot, dot, mark, speck, fleck, blotch, smudge, patch, dab, smut, splash, smear, streak 1.1 A shameful act or quality that tarnishes an otherwise good character or reputation. the only blot on an otherwise clean campaign Example sentencesExamples Not only did you rob her of her bag but you injured her and the offence has left an appalling blot upon her memory. But the long-term effects appeared to be a new blot on his already tarnished record and a setback for the opposition, which failed to keep its promise of a nonviolent demonstration. The victory was to be further blotted when it later transpired that he had used a banned substance before the fight resulting to him being slapped with a six-month suspension. The school administrators and teachers should work together to remove this political and intellectual blot. The closest thing to a blot on the Private Eye editor's escutcheon seems to be his failure to seek planning permission for alterations to his 16th century timber-framed home. It is an indelible part of his CV, a blot on a distinguished public career, a piquant episode for the more mischievous obituarists eventually to recount. He added: ‘It's been an eyesore and blot on the centre of Earby town centre for far too many years.’ It appears this is quite acceptable to an establishment that was too fastidious to allow clever and dedicated men without a blot on their characters, who happened to be hereditary peers, to legislate for us. This is a man who was deputy national security advisor, national security advisor to Ronald Reagan, chairman of the joint chiefs, and here he considers this a blot on his record of public service. But somehow he himself appears to have escaped personal criticism for this blot on his reign as Pope. But slavery was challenged from the very beginning of this country's origins as a blot upon the nation's moral character. This is almost universally regarded as a shameful blot on America's history, a cautionary tale of racism, paranoia, and wartime hysteria. None of this is to say that massacres were other than a blot, but rather that a little context does no harm. He is also said to be squeaky clean, which helps erase the blot on the party's reputation caused by his predecessor, who was forced out due to allegedly shady business practices. It would be the greatest disservice to India and a blot which could take years to erase. I paid compensation and it was a blot on my character, but it was a one-off. ‘It is a breach of faith with the world's poor, and a blot of dishonour on our international reputation,’ she said. Author David K. Wyatt shows no fear and honestly describes the self indulgences, cronyism and corruption that have been a blot on this nation's politics for many, many decades. Nor is there any effort from the so-called distinguished agricultural scientists, economists, and social scientists to come out with proposals to put an end to this shameful blot on the country's image. The damage done by the road construction is a blot on the page of our proud military history. Synonyms blemish, taint, flaw, fault, defect, stain, tarnishing, imperfection, blight 1.2Biochemistry A procedure in which proteins or nucleic acids separated on a gel are transferred directly to an immobilizing medium for identification. Example sentencesExamples To detect other antigens present on these blots, no ‘stripping’ was performed. For each dot blot, bovine protein extract was loaded as a negative control and human saliva as a positive control. We prepared total protein extracts from staged populations of animals and analyzed them by protein blot. After collecting the last samples, protein extracts were prepared and protein gel blot was performed. The protein blot results for these high-expressing lines are shown in Figure 5B. verbblɑtblät [with object] 1Dry (a wet surface or substance) using an absorbent material. Guy blotted his face with a dust rag Example sentencesExamples And he blots his face now, to prove to us he is not oily! Then, dip the sponge into the glaze and then blot off all extra paint with newspaper or paper towels. Rather, just blot the stain and call a professional carpet cleaner who is trained to use specific solutions or a heat transfer, which uses steam and a solution to transfer the fugitive dye to a cotton towel. When you have finished applying the second coat of lipstick, blot the centre of your lips. The section surface was rinsed with distilled water and gently blotted with wipes for a few seconds to remove the excess liquid. After blotting away the excess of lipid, the grids were plunged in liquid ethane. Keep clean cloths nearby and blot away pools of stain that might be near the painters' tape. She blotted her lips on a tissue, like I'd seen Aunt Jean do, then hooked my arm in hers. Sculptured finishes may require use of a soft nylon - bristled brush in a rotating motion to get the detergent solution into all the crevices; blot up with absorbent cloth or paper towel, and rinse. Wild-type and transgenic leaves, from each treatment plate in the previously described study, were blotted dry and weighed. Areas that are too wet with the turpenoid can be carefully blotted with a cotton swab, or an unappealing value can be lifted with a cotton swab dabbed in turpenoid. After grids were blotted and air-dried, the samples were stained. The doctor pulled out a handkerchief to blot the stain from his slacks. You can also use it for blotting handwashed clothes to dry overnight. A little colour also washes out of heavily toned prints, which should be blotted or squeegeed after washing, so the colour does not continue to bleed. Walls were blotted with absorbent paper before being lowered into the oil. And fortunately enough, I just blotted my oily face so I'm quite sure I looked my prime. The tissue samples were rinsed in ice-cold normal saline and were blotted. Fresh material was rinsed in deionized water and blotted carefully with tissue paper. And as he continues - a flashlight jerry-rigged under his arm - he sets about blotting things dry, one by one, with a flowered sponge. Synonyms soak up, absorb, take up, suck up, draw up, sponge up, mop up, sop up 2Mark or stain (something) dark patches of dirt blotted the gray dress Example sentencesExamples My hand is shaking as I write, and I fear that these pages will be blotted. Some of the ink had blotted already, spattered with black blood as it was - but it was still readable. And towering above them all, you have one of the dozens of cranes that continue to blot our capital's skyline, and no doubt will continue to do so for years to come. Synonyms smudge, smear, spot, blotch, dot, mark, speckle, bespatter tarnish, taint, stain, blacken, sully, smear, mar 2.1 Tarnish the good character or reputation of. the turmoil blotted his memory of the school Example sentencesExamples Mishaps too numerous and familiar to mention have blotted the Dear Leader's credentials as a tribune of the People. Aware that I had unwittingly become the first person to blot his unblemished track record, I got the feeling as we parted he won't be rushing to return anymore of my phone calls. In view of the recent judgements and the stand taken on crucial issues it is hoped that the court will uphold the honour and prestige of a great nation so blatantly blotted by the blind evil forces. Not all athletes deserve our scepticism, and the Essendon captain, particularly, does not deserve a genuine goodness to be blotted by one misdemeanour. These, a helpful warden explains, belong to those who blotted their escutcheons as often as not with a royal lady with whom they should not have and were stripped of their honours. An interesting encounter awaits them this weekend, when they entertain Ridge Rangers at home, will they be the first to blot their excellent record. It tapped the growing middle class anger with corruption, and civil society's urge to tackle the warts that blot the country's emergence as a progressive, modern nation. His early career was blotted with incidents of violent physical retaliation for hard tackles against him sometimes resulting in his spending many games on the sideline, having been issued with red cards. Synonyms tarnish, taint, stain, blacken, sully, smear, mar 3blot something outCover writing or pictures with ink or paint so that they cannot be seen. Example sentencesExamples Rather than employing digital trickery or using the old-fashioned method of re-editing, he elected to blot out the offending material by a huge red block. I have thought of blotting these words out with sand and starting again, but the Goddess speaks powerfully in me, and makes me bow my head to Her will. Whenever the sight of her father's murder arose, she imagined a black paint brush going over the scene to blot it out. In the Edinburgh University Library copy, it appears that a phallic symbol drawn on the king has been blotted over and has been transferred to the title page. Look how they keep on killing us, those people, may their names be blotted out. Synonyms erase, obliterate, delete, efface, rub out, wipe out, blank out, remove all traces of, expunge, eliminate 3.1 Obscure a view. a dust shield blotting out the sun Example sentencesExamples Jade grew cold as the sun was blotted out from behind the clouds and everything grew dark. Images on the screens were often blotted out when people near the projector stood up. Just then the lavender sunlight was blotted out of the sky as the rain came pouring down in thick, heavy sheets. Those ones where the sky is completely grey except for a bright spot where the sun is blotted out and the rain comes and goes. Nor do the planets escape alignment with the Moon: because they occupy a restricted band about the ecliptic, they, too, are frequently blotted out for a brief time. Within the hour, the entire Moon was blotted out by Earth's shadow. He then apparently set out in more detail what he'd like to do next, but this proved too much for The Sun, which blotted it out. The Sun shone from directly behind the Mountain, which partially blotted it out. The problem is that the sun would be blotted out. An ‘impact winter’ would follow in which the Sun's life-giving light would be blotted out for years by the debris thrown up by the explosion. But tonight the stars are blotted out by a huge searchlight arcing across the sky from the south. Looking up into the mid water region presented a warm green glow which modulated in brightness as the sun was blotted out by frequent clouds. The sky above them was a dark milky black, the stars blotted out by the snow clouds. The red clouds above turned black, and the sun was blotted out even though it was noon. Neighbours complained that the state of the house and garden depressed property prices and even made it impossible to grow vegetables in gardens because the sun was blotted out. For three days, dense black clouds of smoke blotted out the sun over a wide stretch of the Italian coast. Shouting from up ahead and the sun was blotted out for a few seconds as we passed through a gatehouse. The pair could be seen talking in the front of a vehicle, though the policeman's face was blotted out. The video screens were blotted out by the clouds, displaying only swirling mists and droplets of moisture punctuated by a flash as lightning rippled through a cloud. The jackhammers start at 7:30, shortly after the morning sun is blotted out by enormous pick-up trucks the workers drive. Synonyms conceal, hide, obscure, exclude, obliterate, erase 3.2 Obliterate or disregard something painful in one's memory or existence. the concentration necessary to her job blotted out all the feelings Example sentencesExamples Two years ago, the pain of a prior opening week having been blotted from my consciousness by some defence mechanism, I accepted an invitation for the Saturday at the end of the opening week. No matter how painful it can be, it would be impossible to blot out my last memory of Sophie, standing on the far side of the room dressed in her school uniform. Indeed, in our modern mindset, we take the notion of the tormentor and merely blot it out, wishing away its existence without really addressing the underlying causes. It blotted out memories of that floodlit game there last season when they beat us before it got dark enough to turn on the lights. I try to blot it out, but it's something you just can't get out of your mind. Wil stepped back from the locker with a muttered curse, slamming the locker closed as Vicki turned away, mouth covered and eyes tightly closed, trying to blot out the memory. We have the means and enough reasons to blot this bogeyman out of existence. And the answer that a rational mind then says, well, he is in the midst of this and he is just blotting this out of his brain. In his defence, he declares that the death of his mother, Sylvia, from leukaemia, when he was only 16, sparked a compulsion to blot everything out, whatever the damage to his own body. I didn't feel safe anywhere and I took more drugs to blot things out. The absolutely lowest moment of the series was in, I think, an episode for which the title has been blotted out of my memory. That's why he never thanked you personally, that would have meant recognizing that he had been ill, and his way of coping was to try and blot it from his mind. Taking a deep breath, the soldier shut his eyes, as if to blot out some unnerving memory. Plenty of prisoners only go on heroin after they get inside, rationally concluding that a long stretch in a vile environment is best blotted out. I am a lucky man as much as my job is difficult and depressing at times, I don't get to the end of the week and have the same kind of urgency to blot everything out and release five days worth of pressure and frustration. That is not to say that his memory was blotted out. You blot these cases out of your memory as soon as you have done them. Go or be blotted out as abominable in mine sight! The man, a university graduate, told police after the crash that he could not understand why he had hit the cyclist who was not more than 0.5 metres from the kerb and Mr. Chapman said since then he had blotted the accident from his mind. You're incapable of dealing with the emotion yourself, so you have to resort to something to blot it out. Synonyms wipe out, erase, efface, eradicate, obliterate, expunge, destroy, exterminate 4Biochemistry Transfer by means of a blot. Example sentencesExamples I have purified, cloned, sub-cloned, transfected, blotted and detected DNA. Eighteen candidate clones from the genomic library were digested with a series of restriction enzymes, Southern blotted, and hybridized with the same probe. DNAs were digested with restriction enzymes, separated on agarose gel, and blotted onto a nylon membrane. First, after electrophoresis of the proteins through a polyacrylamide gel, they are transferred by blotting to a porous membrane sheet. The DNA fragments are transferred or blotted to a nylon or nitrocellulose paper and baked to bind the single stranded DNA to the paper. Origin Late Middle English: probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Old Norse blettr.
随便看	add reservations to address addressability addressability addressable address/apply oneself to address as address bar address book address books address bus address card address commission addressed addressed addressee addressees addresser addresser addresses addresses addressin addressing addressing machine addressings