blot one's copy book
To damage one's own reputation through bad behavior.
Now, it was the College that had blotted its copybook
blot
UK /blɒt/ US /blɑt/
verb 5noun 4
Definitions
noun
1
A blemish, spot or stain made by a coloured substance.
England bound in with the triumphant ſea, / Whoſe rocky ſhore beates backe the enuious ſiedge / Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with ſhame, / With Inky blottes, and rotten Parchment bonds.
When I and some others subscribed our names / To a plot for expelling my master king James [James II of England]; / I withdrew my subscription by help of a blot, / And so might discover or gain by the plot: […]
2
A stain on someone's reputation or character; a disgrace.
Thy ouerflow of good, conuerts to bad, / And thy abundant goodneſſe ſhall excuſe / This deadly blot, in thy digreſſing ſonne.
He that reproueth a ſcorner, getteth to himſelfe ſhame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man, getteth himſelfe a blot.
3
A method of transferring proteins, DNA or RNA, onto a carrier.
4
An exposed piece in backgammon.
verb
1
To cause a blot (on something) by spilling a coloured substance.
2
To soak up or absorb liquid.
This paper blots easily.
3
To dry (writing, etc.) with blotting paper.
4
To spot, stain, or bespatter, as with ink.
The briefe was writte and blotted all with gore,[…]
5
To impair; to damage; to mar; to soil.
It blots thy beautie, as froſts doe bite the Meads,[…]
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