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
Collocations
3VERB + BLOT
care, got, help, ink, tried
BLOT + NOUN
children, family's, landscape, memory
PREP.
on, out
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,[…]
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
blot on the escutcheon
Something damaging to one's reputation.
The most zealous advocates of the unfortunate monarch cannot deny that this is an indelible blot on his escutcheon.
Example Bank
601
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.
Wiktionary02
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
Wiktionary03
Her utmost powers of expression (which were certainly not great in ink) were exhausted in the attempt to write what she felt on the subject of my journey. Four sides of incoherent and interjectional b
Wiktionary04
This paper blots easily.
Wiktionary05
The briefe was writte and blotted all with gore,[…]
Wiktionary06
It blots thy beautie, as froſts doe bite the Meads,[…]
WiktionaryUsage Notes
Your note
not saved0 chars