blot

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
blot/blɒt/

▶noun

• 1 a dark mark or stain, especially one made by ink.

• 2 a thing that mars something that is otherwise good.

• 3 Biochemistry a procedure in which proteins or nucleic acids separated on a gel are transferred directly to an immobilizing medium for identification.

▶verb (blots, blotting, blotted)

• 1 dry with an absorbent material.

• 2 mark, stain, or mar.

• 3 (blot something out) obscure a view.

  ■ disregard a painful memory or thought.

• 4 Biochemistry transfer by means of a blot.

– phrases
blot one's copybook Brit. tarnish one's good reputation.

– origin ME: prob. of Scand. origin and rel. to ON blettr.