1A piece of cloth or other material used to mend or strengthen a torn or weak point.

1. 1.1 A pad or shield worn over a sightless or injured eye or an eye socket.
   （保护病伤眼睛用的）眼罩
   Example sentencesExamples

   • He was rather plump, and wore a black patch over his right eye.
   • He was allegedly carjacked by Mr. Nichols in the parking garage and you can see that he is wearing a patch over his eye from the injuries in that incident.
   • He wears a black patch over the recently fitted plastic eye, but his dancing legs are strong.
   • He wore a black patch over his left eye while his good eye, hungry with greed, stared at Hitomi in a frightening star.
   • But, you can still pick out a sexy patch to cover up the gaping hole in your head, which thank goodness was discovered after we dilated your eyes!

   Synonyms

   cover, eyepatch, covering, pad, shield
2. 1.2 A piece of cloth sewn on to clothing as a badge or distinguishing mark.
   臂章
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Since the end of OIF II, I have seen a lot of things happen with medals and badges and patches.
   • We rely on the identification patches on there to distinguish between the good guys and the bad guys.
   • The Marines don't have all the funky badges and patches that the Army has, so they don't have the same issue.
   • It is not a fashion statement it is a cult statement in the same way that wearing a political rosette is, or that wearing a gang patch is.
   • Even among other service members who may wear combat patches on their right sleeves, the U.S. flag patch is always supposed to be at the top.
   • Boy Scouts wear the patch on the right chest pocket of their uniform, while Girl Scouts wear the patch on the back of their sash.
   • I casually open the door, hoping that CAG isn't present, and if he is, that it is so dark he can't see my face or my squadron patch.
   • In fact, badges or patches tended to disappear altogether, as the GI traded in his original issue field uniforms for replacements at irregular intervals.
   • Many wore American flags in straw hats and American patches over their hearts.
   • Nearby lies a mission patch torn from a Nasa space suit with the seven names of the crew running along the edge of the shuttle-shaped insignia.
   • Speaking of history, I notice the Orioles wearing 50-year anniversary patches on their sleeves.
   • Walking around, you can see soldiers wearing patches from scores of units.
   • A couple of weeks later I was on the U.S. Army home page and noticed a link to unit insignia and patches.
   • First of all, the Marines do have uniforms that have Velcro patches.
   • All plates, bowls, and flatware have the group patch superimposed over bands of Transportation Corps red and yellow along the rim.
   • The front of the jacket is decorated with leather patches depicting all five units involved in the Doolittle Raid.
   • How can we as soldiers place our combat patch over our country's flag?
   • A boy whose knapsack is covered in decorative patches says, ‘If there was a skate park we could go to, that would be awesome,’ his eyes lighting up.
   • The army cleverly arranged to have inserted among the legitimate insignia properly designed patches for most of the notional formations.
   • Following that meeting, Pershing directed all American divisions to design and wear their own distinctive shoulder patches.

   Synonyms

   emblem, insignia, badge, marking
3. 1.3 An adhesive piece of drug-impregnated material worn on the skin so that the drug can be absorbed gradually over a period of time.
   膏药
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Smokers could go for alternatives such as sunflower seeds, apple slices, raisins, nicotine gum and patches to help them quit, he said.
   • From 30 to 50 percent of patients experience mild skin irritation under the patch.
   • Doctors call these drugs vasodilators and they are available in a variety of forms, including tablets, sprays, skin patches and ointments.
   • Do not try to trim or cut the adhesive patch to adjust the dosage.
   • Similar to a nicotine replacement patch, insulin patches placed on the skin would provide a continuous low dose of insulin.
   • She tried everything else - the arm patches, the nicotine gum - but none of them worked.
   • The testosterone will be delivered through a patch worn on the skin.
   • The service offers free specialist advice tailored to each individual; one-to-one and group support; advice on devices such as nicotine gum and patches.
   • For oestrogen-only treatment, tablets, patches, implants and skin gels are available.
   • Transdermal patches are thin medicated patches which are attached to the skin with adhesive.
   • Common side effects are skin redness when the patch is removed and restless sleep.
   • She was prescribed a very strong painkiller that she wore as a patch.
   • Transdermal patches, once they are standardized to achieve physiologic circulating androgen levels in women, will be helpful.
   • The contraceptive patch can cause skin irritation (itching and soreness) in some women.
   • Combined hormonal contraceptives are also available as an adhesive skin patch, which is worn for three weeks out of every four.
   • More recently, ocular inserts have been developed to provide continuous delivery of low levels of drugs, somewhat analogous to skin patches.
   • One option for transdermal administration when patients cannot tolerate morphine is the fentanyl patch.
   • United States approves contraceptive skin patch: The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first transdermal skin patch contraceptive.
   • These patches contain nicotine and cost roughly the same as cigarettes do.
   • For more serious travel sickness your doctor may prescribe patches containing hyoscine (an anti-nausea drug).
4. 1.4historical A small disk of black silk attached to the face, especially as worn by women in the 17th and 18th centuries for adornment.
   〈史〉（尤指17、18世纪妇女装饰用的）饰颜片，美人斑
   Example sentencesExamples

   • During the Enlightenment, fashionable dress, masks and masquerading, corsetry, and the wearing of beauty patches were part of everyday life.
   • The English and French gentry used patch boxes in which to keep beauty patches as well as patches to cover pox scars.

2A part of something marked out from the rest by a particular characteristic.

他把头发梳向前面以遮盖逐渐变秃的头顶。

1. 2.1 A small area or amount of something.
   小片，碎片；碎屑
   patches of bluebells in the grass

   草地上一片片的野风信子。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Before I finish this letter I must add that as we were finishing our lake walk we came across a large area of litter on a grassy patch under the trees, very unsightly.
   • Butterflyfish, angelfish and pufferfish cruised around and a zebra lionfish rested on a small patch of sand.
   • A little farther, I went into a low area and through a patch of green smartweed.
   • Red-tailed Hawks are found in almost every type of habitat, as long as there are open areas interspersed with patches of trees or other elevated perches.
   • It covers a large area in terms of several hundred square kilometres, but it's only in very small patches within that area.
   • A garage should have a dog of indiscriminate breed sleeping near the door and a persistent patch of weeds growing through the crack in the concrete out by the pumps.
   • Icy patches will occur in areas of seepage, otherwise no problems expected.
   • Further, types of edges that delimit grassland patches vary from one area to another, which can influence area sensitivity.
   • Although the patterned bilayer patches undergo a slight area expansion, they are then stable for weeks at room temperature.
   • Somalia has been destroyed as a country, it has been torn into patches which are run by rebel armies of tribal warlords.
   • It was a wild-eyed grey, still young judging by the dark patches still covering its coat.
   • His crop was planted over a wide area in small patches with a fair amount of tree cover.
   • Using the maps as a guide, farmers can treat just the weed patches with minimal amounts of the appropriate chemical.
   • When we walked in this area we were just leaving the grassy patch to walk down when we encountered a flock of fantails fluttering to and fro across the path in a kind of war dance defending their territory.
   • The facility is designed for its ability to be relocatable and offers the only bit of greenery in the area - a patch of grass imported straight from Australia.
   • Under experimental conditions, roots have been shown to respond to patches of fertility through increased branching of higher order laterals.
   • Sharp-tailed Grouse live in grassy areas with patches of trees in the northern Columbia Basin.
   • The time when every area had a patch of green and jumpers for goalposts is long gone.
   • It does best in disturbed forest patches with large amounts of edge or open canopy.
   • The big blue: from the air the islands appear as tiny patches of greenery surrounded by luminous circles of sand.

3A small piece of ground, especially one used for gardening.

他们利用星期天来翻挖自己的小片菜地。

1. 3.1British informal An area for which someone is responsible or in which they operate.
   〈英，非正式〉管辖区
   we didn't want any secret organizations on our patch

   我们不想让任何秘密组织在我们这片辖区内存在。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • One woman on my patch called police fifty times in twelve months, and they attended every time. That's fifty crimes of violence for the politicians to wave about.
   • North Yorkshire is hardly the most hazardous patch to police, yet the force has the third worst record in the country for retirement on medical grounds.
   • Every now and then, an experience would serve as a reminder that intelligent marine mammals can be aggressive as well as friendly; that you must operate with respect in what is their patch.
   • ‘One of the problems is that we have various organisations defending their own patch all the time,’ he said.
   • I'm hoping neither author moves into my own patch - black comedy - to hot up the competition.
   • A radical shake up of rural policing in the district will see the return of local Bobbies patrolling a beat and being responsible safety and security on their patch.
   • His patch covers the whole of the North of England from Birmingham upwards, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
   • Retained part-timers who decide to carry on working during the dispute will normally be asked only to cover their usual patch.

   Synonyms

   area, small area, isolated area, district, region, island, cluster, centre

4British informal A period of time seen as a distinct unit with a characteristic quality.

他这一段时间以来可能不怎么走运。

5A temporary electrical or telephone connection.

1. 5.1 A preset configuration or sound data file in an electronic musical instrument, especially a synthesizer.
   （电子乐器，尤指合成乐器中的）预设配置（或声音）数据文件；配音
   Example sentencesExamples

   • You can morph from one synth patch to another, resulting in some astonishing effects with voice, percussion and other instruments.
   • I tried all of the reverb patches on drums, vocals, electric guitars and keyboards and found them to have good dynamic responses.
   • B. All keyboard sounds must be edited in some way: no factory presets or pre-programmed patches are allowed.
   • This synth proves to be a very complete tool kit for sound and patch design and presents a unique sonic flavor that's not available elsewhere.
   • Auto-save happens after each recording pass and edit, and when storing a locate memory or mix scene, a patch preset or an FX preset.
   • The XV - 5050 has a great set of over 1,000 preset patches, and you can program your own to create more.
   • Particularly clever is the use of the extracted reverberation from the harp, used as an eerie synthesizer patch in its own right.
   • We're talking five-minute patches of overdriven Moog, bass-thumping and off-time drumbeats.
   • The unitary conductances in patches with a single active channel are stable for the durations of the recordings.
   • Lodder opts for some slightly cheesy synth patches on occasion, but he does a good job of glueing the whole together with big, churchy organ chords and squelchy analogue synths.
   • Although this example is itself trivial, jMax is capable of far more complex synthesis patches.
   • I should be concentrating more on when particular synth patches reemerge, as I think this would be interesting.
   • His trademark chromatic patches are dull and muddy.
   • You can use it as a control device and make a patch that actually synthesizes the notes.
   • Today he employs various Max / MSP patches to construct interminable tracks of grid-like tub beatings.

6Computing
A small piece of code inserted into a program to improve its functioning or to correct an error.

1Mend or strengthen (fabric or an item of clothing) by putting a piece of material over a hole or weak point in it.

她的牛仔裤补得很整齐。

1. 1.1Medicine Place a patch over (a good eye) in order to encourage a lazy eye to work.
   〔医〕遮盖（视力好的一只眼睛）以促进弱视眼看东西
   the amblyopia may be treated by patching the good eye

   Example sentencesExamples

   • The perioperative nurse applies another dose of topical anesthetic drops to the surgical eye and may patch the nonsurgical eye.
   • By patching the good eye, you're effectively making someone use their lazy eye.
   • Bed rest with elevation of the head and patching of the affected eye may prevent the frequent complication of rebleeding, but the data are unclear.
   • Treatment may be surgical for muscle imbalance, use of refractive lenses, or patching the normal eye to allow the affected eye to regain strength and vision.
   • However, recent evidence indicates that patching may increase discomfort and decrease rate of healing.
   • With early detection, vision can be restored by patching the properly aligned eye, which forces the misaligned one to work.
   • The traditional model of patching for amblyopia tends to be one in which the closer vision is to normal the less treatment is given.
   • For decades, patching the unaffected eye has been the mainstay of amblyopia treatment.
   • The long-established practices of early childhood screening for amblyopia and patching of the dominant eye are not supported by evidence of good clinical outcome.
   • Both groups of children in the study performed one hour a day of ‘near’ work, such as coloring, tracing, reading, and crafts, while their eye was patched.
   • Both of the patients' eyes had to be patched, which completely obstructed vision.
2. 1.2Computing Correct, enhance, or modify (a routine or program) by inserting a patch.
   〔计算机〕（用补丁对程序进行）改错，改善，修正；打补丁
   Example sentencesExamples

   • Network upgrades are an interesting way of patching an operating system and its applications.
   • Changing system configurations and patching software can eliminate a fair number of risks at little cost.
   • According to this line of thinking, disclosure should be delayed by up 30 days to give software vendors time to patch a system.
   • Of course, Sasser was widely known, so most companies have updated anti-virus software and have patched their systems - which is why we are doing a pen test.
   • It found the Defense Department lacks a coordinated approach to ensuring that its systems are patched against the latest software vulnerabilities, and to conducting security assessments.
   • Subjects covered will include advising users to maintain up-to-date anti-virus signatures, patch operating systems and use firewalls.
   • Uninstalling Easy CD Creator is wiser, though make sure you've thoroughly patched the Roxio program with all its available updates before removing it.
   • The HIToolbox human interface API has been patched to prevent the VoiceOver accessibility app from reading out the contents of secure text-entry fields such as passwords.
   • A number of computer bugs were patched last week.
   • The holes have been discovered from analysis of an existing link on the Internet and a fully functional demonstration of the exploit have been produced and been shown to affect even fully patched versions of Explorer.
   • Sophos has warned users not to panic regarding a serious security vulnerability found in versions of Microsoft Windows, but to calmly ensure all computers are correctly patched.
   • The vulnerability has been confirmed on a fully patched system with Internet Explorer 6.0 and Microsoft Windows XP SP1 / SP2.
   • The exploit was so bad that it brought the server down to its knees, and it took me over a week to write a program just to patch the problem and keep things under control.
   • Many vendors include vulnerable Sendmail servers as part of their software distributions, hence the need to patch Unix and Linux systems as well as dedicated mail servers.
   • Keep up to date on patching your operating systems and applications.
   • Until this year, newly found security holes in operating systems and programs were patched before viruses and worms could be written to exploit them.
   • Last year, students were given information at that point on how to patch their operating systems.
   • And it's up to each of us to protect our own little corner of cyberspace, by patching our software and being wary of unsolicited e-mail.
   • Maryland failed to carry out other key recommendations as well, such as patching the Windows 2000 software used on its central computer system, and installing a firewall to protect that system.
   • Do you plan to release another patch before the expansion or will the expansion also patch the main program?
3. 1.3 Cover small areas of (a surface) with something different, causing it to appear variegated.
   使出现斑块
   the grass was patched with sandy stretches

   草地上出现一条条的沙带。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • Touch up jobs on varnished, lacquered or painted surfaces are likely to appear patched.
   • The scars we moved past are striking, the limestone is angled at 45 degrees and popular with crows, patched with lichens and softened by mosses.

2patch someone/something upinformal Treat someone's injuries or repair the damage to something, especially hastily.

他们竭尽所能对张开的伤口做了紧急处理。

1. 2.1patch something together Construct something hastily from unsuitable components.
   拼凑；匆匆制成
   lean-tos patched together from aluminum siding and planks

   用铝制壁板和木板草草搭建的披棚。

   figurative they were trying to patch together an arrangement for cooperation

   〈喻〉他们试图拼凑一个合作协议。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • There wasn't enough dough to finish it properly, so Warner patched it together and dumped it in theatres sans marketing campaign.
   • Still, I would have patched something together for season.
   • As Pepper tells the tale, he hasn't touched his horn in six months, the mouthpiece has rotted away, and he has to patch it together with sticky tape.
   • In his case this meant obscure and crackly old vinyl records from his own collection, which he would selectively sample then take the results and patch them together to make his own songs.
   • A filternetwork provides a canvas on which icons representing synthesis primitives are patched together to create a processing or synthesis chain.
   • They say they've been working for years to help poor people find shelter and patch their lives together, only to see the ‘revitalization’ movement snapping up what little low-cost housing is available.
   • Instead, components are patched together just to keep the system running.
   • Carlow began to show signs of patching their game together as Waterford's defence became less than convincing.
   • Taking bits and pieces of longer works and patching them together in an anthology is usually legitimized by claims of getting to the essence of the matter and saving time as an ‘expert’ peels away the nonessential.
   • Operational techniques were patched together as quickly as possible.
   • But I somehow patched it together and decided to go forward anyway: spreading 2 Tbs of apricot jam (I used apricot ginger jam from Whole Foods) across the dough then sprinkling 1/2 cup of the filling over it.
   • She studied two photographs and went to work carving out his various parts, patching the parts together with 2-part expanding foam.
   • People's lives are patched together by so many different forces - language, chance, class, trauma - that the entire city begins to resemble the Frankenstein-type monster who will lumber along the streets.
   • It buys us the time to examine how the hospital works, so we aren't always desperately scrambling from day-to-day, patching things together as best we can.
   • There was no use for them, so scenes were patched together simply to get them in the film.
   • Later, these multitudinous LANs were patched together via routers in a helter-skelter manner.
   • It was written in two stages, in January and in March, and he patched the versions together.
   • Residents of Khayelitsha are prohibited from building permanent structures on the sandy plots, so houses are patched together with undersized beams, laminate wood, and rusty corrugated metal sheets.
   • About another mile down the road, tents are patched together with various styles of cloth.
   • And I think it's going to be pretty good if we ever have time to patch it together -

   Synonyms

   prepare hastily, prepare roughly, make hastily, make roughly, put together hastily, put together roughly, scribble, improvise, devise, contrive, rig, rig up, patch together, jerry-build
2. 2.2patch something up Restore peaceful or friendly relations after a quarrel or dispute.
   〈非正式〉恢复（友好关系），和解
   any ill feeling could be patched up with a phone call

   一个电话就可能化解任何的敌意。

   they sent him home to patch things up with his wife

   他们送他回家与妻子和解。

   Example sentencesExamples

   • So I can help you patch things up with him to that capacity!
   • I've been reading lately that the French are trying to patch things up with the U.S., but I guess they've abandoned that strategy, haven't they?
   • Laura, who had spent the day before her disappearance filling in an application form to join the police force, had a ‘falling out’ in the Crooked Billet with a man, but that had been patched up, her father said.
   • But before Prom, I needed to patch things up with Charlene.
   • He even encouraged me to patch things up with Kathy - he told me that he can certainly understand how she must feel now since he used to feel that way about her.
   • Sorry Kyle, I was just anxious to see if I could patch things up with Craig, I didn't mean to ignore you.
   • Call Alicia tonight and patch things up with her.
   • ‘I can't say we've patched everything up,’ Byrne shrugs.
   • And though to many arguing may not have seemed like the best bonding activity, Morgan believed that every argument that was patched up strengthened a relationship.
   • I might have a guest over for Christmas Eve dinner with my family, depending on whether she's patched up with her boyfriend or not.
   • A few words can make a big difference - if she hears it from you, she might finally start to realize what she's doing wrong, and start trying to patch things up with you.
   • December is coming soon… we'll patch up everything that needs to be patched up then and hopefully walk away from this closer and happier than ever before.
   • If you're Shaun, you grab a cricket bat, gather your loved ones, and make a run for your favourite pub, hoping all the while that you just might patch things up with your ex-girlfriend on what's probably your last day on earth.
   • Yet now he is going to jail for seven years and has only 24 hours to try and patch things up with his father, hang out with his oldest friends and try and find out who tipped off the cops.
   • Desperately unhappy, Huey recruits his best friend Aldo in an ill-advised scheme to patch things up with his ex-wife. The prospects for success seem unlikely.
   • The father in ‘Powder,’ for all his fervent desire to patch things up with his estranged wife and bring the family together, flounders on two counts.
   • That's only fair since he was the one who told me to try and patch things up with you.
   • I'm going to go patch things up with her after school today.
   • I'd rather not ruin things with him to possibly try to patch things up with you.
   • She'll be back in a few months at the most and hopefully Father will patch things up with her.

   Synonyms

   reconcile, make up, settle, conciliate

3Connect by a temporary electrical, radio, or telephonic connection.

4Computing
Correct, enhance, or modify (a routine or program) by inserting a patch.