blot1

[blot] /blɒt/
noun
1.
a spot or stain, especially of ink on paper.
2.
a blemish on a person's character or reputation:
He had been haunted by a blot on his past.
3.
Archaic. an erasure or obliteration, as in a writing.
verb (used with object), blotted, blotting.
4.
to spot, stain, soil, or the like.
5.
to darken; make dim; obscure or eclipse (usually followed by out):
We watched as the moon blotted out the sun.
6.
to dry with absorbent paper or the like:
to blot the wet pane.
7.
to remove with absorbent paper or the like.
verb (used without object), blotted, blotting.
8.
to make a blot; spread ink, dye, etc., in a stain:
The more slowly I write, the more this pen blots.
9.
to become blotted or stained:
This paper blots too easily.
10.
Chemistry. to transfer an array of separated components of a mixture to a chemically treated paper for analysis.
Compare gel, gel electrophoresis.
Verb phrases
11.
blot out,
  1. to make indistinguishable; obliterate:
    to blot out a name from the record.
  2. to wipe out completely; destroy:
    Whole cities were blotted out by bombs.
Origin
1275-1325; (noun) Middle English blotte, akin to Old Norse blettr blot, spot, stain; (v.) late Middle English blotten, derivative of the noun
Related forms
blotless, adjective
blottingly, adverb
blotty, adjective
unblotted, adjective
Synonyms
1. blotch, ink stain. 2. stain, taint, dishonor, disgrace, spot. 4. sully, disfigure. 5. obliterate, efface, erase, expunge. 7. absorb.
British Dictionary definitions for blot out

blot1

/blɒt/
noun
1.
a stain or spot of ink, paint, dirt, etc
2.
something that spoils or detracts from the beauty or worth of something
3.
a blemish or stain on one's character or reputation
verb blots, blotting, blotted
4.
(of ink, dye, etc) to form spots or blobs on (a material) or (of a person) to cause such spots or blobs to form on (a material)
5.
(informal) blot one's copybook, to spoil one's reputation by making a mistake, offending against social customs, etc
6.
(intransitive) to stain or become stained or spotted
7.
(transitive) to cause a blemish in or on; disgrace
8.
to soak up (excess ink, etc) by using blotting paper or some other absorbent material
9.
(of blotting paper or some other absorbent material) to absorb (excess ink, etc)
10.
(transitive) often foll by out
  1. to darken or hide completely; obscure; obliterate
  2. to destroy; annihilate
Word Origin
C14: probably of Germanic origin; compare Middle Dutch bluysterblister

blot2

/blɒt/
noun
1.
(backgammon) a man exposed by being placed alone on a point and therefore able to be taken by the other player
2.
(archaic) a weak spot
Word Origin
C16: perhaps from Middle Dutch bloot poor
Word Origin and History for blot out

blot

n.

late 14c., originally "blemish," perhaps from Old Norse blettr "blot, stain," or from Old French blot, variant of bloc "block," or blestre "blister, lump, clump of earth."

v.

early 15c., "to make blots;" mid-15c. "to blot out, obliterate" (words), from blot (n.). Related: Blotted; blotting.

blot out in Medicine

blot (blŏt)
n.
The Northern, Southern, or Western blot analyses.

blot out in the Bible

a stain or reproach (Job 31:7; Prov. 9:7). To blot out sin is to forgive it (Ps. 51:1, 9; Isa. 44:22; Acts 3:19). Christ's blotting out the handwriting of ordinances was his fulfilling the law in our behalf (Col. 2:14).

Idioms and Phrases with blot out

blot out

Obliterate, wipe out of existence or memory, as in At least one Indian nation was blotted out as the pioneers moved west, or The trauma of the accident blotted out all her memory of recent events. This idiom, first recorded in 1516, uses the verb to blot in the sense of making something illegible by spotting or staining it with ink. The New Testament has it (Acts 3:19): “Repent ye ... that your sins may be blotted out.”