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Notch vs Potch - What's the difference?

notch | potch |

As nouns the difference between notch and potch

is that notch is a v-shaped cut while potch is (chiefly|australia|mineralogy|gemmology) a type of rough opal without colour, and therefore not worth selling.

As verbs the difference between notch and potch

is that notch is to cut a notch in (something) while potch is to thrust or potch can be (to cook in simmering water).

notch

English

Noun

(es)
  • A V-shaped cut.
  • Such a cut, used for keeping a record
    • ''The notches in that tribe's warrior axe handles stand for killed enemies.
  • An indentation.
  • A mountain pass; a defile
  • (informal) A level or degree.
    • ''This car is a notch better than the other.
  • * 2014 , Daniel Taylor, " World Cup 2014: Uruguay sink England as Suárez makes his mark," guardian.co.uk , 20 June:
    • A better team might also have done more to expose Uruguay’s occasionally brittle defence, but England’s speed of thought and movement in their attacking positions was a good notch or two down from the Italy game.

    Derived terms

    * notch on one's bedpost, notch on the bedpost * notchback * notchboard * top notch

    Verb

    (es)
  • To cut a notch in (something).
  • To record (a score or similar) by making notches on something.
    • The tribe's hunters notch their kills by notches on each's axe's handle.
  • To join by means of notches.
  • To achieve (something).
    • The team notched a pair of shutout wins on Sunday.
  • *

    • Derived terms

    * notcher * notchy

    potch

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) ; akin to (poach).

    Verb

  • To thrust.
  • * (editors), ''Cassell's Illustrated Shakespeare: The Plays of Shakespeare , Volume 3: Tragedies, page 83,
    • I'll potch at him some way, / Or wrath or craft may get him.
  • To trample.
  • * 1837 , John Orville Taylor, The Farmer?s School Book , page 116,
    • Afterwards, the second pasture should be treated in the same manner, and the rest in course, feeding the wettest pasture after the driest, that the soil may be less potched .

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (-)
  • (chiefly, Australia, mineralogy, gemmology) A type of rough opal without colour, and therefore not worth selling.
  • * 1982 , Gemmological Association of Great Britain, The Journal of Gemmology , Volume 18, page 432,
    • Discusses the difference between potch' opal and common opal. The terms are often used synonymously, but this writer shows that ' potch is found only in association with precious opal and differs from common opal in its structure quite substantially.
  • * 1996 , , Virago Press, paperback edition, page 75,
    • She set them down with precision, she set them down with the same kind of care that Bernie took when he and his underlings cut opal, or when they polished the rough stones, or when they bonded opal veneer on to potch .
  • * 2006 , Michael O'Donoghue, Gems: Their Sources, Descriptions and Identification , 6th Edition, Elsevier, UK, page 321,
    • Likewise, a thin piece of good opal on potch' (opal with no play of colour) may be cut so that the ' potch acts as a backing.

    Etymology 3

    Verb

    (es)
  • (to cook in simmering water).
    • (Wiseman)
  • * 1627 , , Sylva Sylvarum: Or, A Natural History, in Ten Centuries , 1670, page 14,
    • The Yolks of Eggs'' are of them?elves ?o well prepared by ''Nature'' for nourishment, as (?o they be Potched , or Rear boyled) they need no other preparation or mixture; yet they may be taken al?o raw, when they are new laid, with ''Malm?ey'' or ''Sweet Wine .
  • * 1849 , , Thomas Johnson (translator), Adriaan van den Spiegel (additional tractates), Concerning the Plague'', ''The Workes of that Famous Chirurgion Ambro?e Parey , page 553,
    • Eggs potched and eaten with the juice of Sorrel, are verie good. Likewi?e Barlie-water ?ea?oned with the grains of a tart Pomgranat, and if the Fever bee vehement, with the ?eeds of white Poppie.
  • * 1860 , Notes and Queries'', ''The Medical Times and Gazette , Volume 1: For 1860, page 167,
    • And if a man should break his fast with a light and nourishing meate, then I say there is nothing better than a couple of egges potched , or the yolkes of two egges sodden rere and put in one shell, seasoned with a little pepper, butter and salt, supped off warme, drinking after it a good draught of claret wine.

    See also

    * hotchpotch

    Anagrams

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