{
    "term": "patch",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a small area of something, especially one which is different from the area around it",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a black dog with a white patch on its back"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a bald patch on the top of his head"
                },
                {
                    "text": "damp patches on the wall"
                },
                {
                    "text": "patches of dense fog"
                },
                {
                    "text": "We sat in a patch of shade under a tree."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The velvet curtains were faded in patches."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There were some patches of clear blue sky."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Flowers provide little bright patches of colour around the garden."
                },
                {
                    "text": "an isolated patch of forest"
                },
                {
                    "text": "icy patches on the roads"
                },
                {
                    "text": "located on a small patch of flat ground"
                },
                {
                    "text": "This led Nixon into a political briar patch (= a painful situation that is difficult to escape)."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["irregular", "clear", "coloured/​colored"],
                "preposition": ["in patches", "patch of", "patch on"],
                "phrases": ["a patch of colour/​color"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a small piece of material that is used to cover a hole in something or to make a weak area stronger, or as decoration",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "I sewed patches on the knees of my jeans."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She wore a jacket with bright patches sewn onto it."
                },
                {
                    "text": "dancers with patches on their costumes"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Students were wearing American flag patches on their sleeves."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verb + patch": ["have", "sew on/​onto"],
                "preposition": ["patch on"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "a piece of material that you wear over an eye, usually because the eye is damaged",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He had a black patch over one eye."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "a piece of material that you sew onto clothes as part of a uniform",
            "labels": "(North American English)British English",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He wears a patch from his employer, Verizon."
                },
                {
                    "text": "It has a UPS patch sewn on the right shoulder."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "verb + patch": ["sport", "wear", "sew on"],
                "preposition": ["patch on"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "a piece of material that people can wear on their skin to help them to stop smoking",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "nicotine patches"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Social issues"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 6,
            "definition": "a small piece of land, especially one used for growing vegetables or fruit",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a vegetable patch"
                },
                {
                    "text": "We had a strawberry patch beside the greenhouse."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Gardens"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["isolated", "grassy", "bare"],
                "preposition": ["patch of"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 7,
            "definition": "an area that somebody works in, knows well or comes from",
            "labels": "(British English, informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He knows every house in his patch."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She has had a lot of success in her **home patch**."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 8,
            "definition": "a period of time of the type mentioned, usually a difficult or unhappy one",
            "labels": "(informal, especially British English)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "to go through a **bad/difficult/sticky patch**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I was going through a patch of poor health."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Their business hit a sticky patch last year."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The team has been through a rough patch recently."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We did have a patch of bad luck, but we're through it now."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["bad", "difficult", "rocky"],
                "verb + patch": ["go through", "have", "hit"],
                "preposition": ["patch of"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 9,
            "definition": "a small piece of code (= instructions that a computer can understand) which can be added to a computer program to improve it or to correct a fault",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Follow the instructions below to download and install the patch."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Update and apply all **security patches** to your browser, as soon as possible."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Computers"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["security"],
                "verb + patch": ["apply", "deploy", "download"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to be much less good, attractive, etc. than somebody/something else",
            "labels": "(especially British English, informal)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "This book isn’t a patch on her others."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Shop-bought jam is not a patch on home-made."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/pætʃ/",
                "audio": "pa/patch/patch__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/pætʃ/",
                "audio": "pa/patch/patch__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: perhaps from a variant of Old French pieche, dialect variant of piece ‘piece’."
}