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Patch vs Plug - What's the difference?

patch | plug |

As nouns the difference between patch and plug

is that patch is a piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to repair or strengthen it, especially upon an old garment to cover a hole while plug is a pronged connecting device which fits into a mating socket.

As verbs the difference between patch and plug

is that patch is to mend by sewing on a piece or pieces of cloth, leather, or the like; as, to patch a coat while plug is to stop with a plug; to make tight by stopping a hole.

As a proper noun Patch

is {{surname|from=|lang=en}.

patch

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) patche, . Alternatively, perhaps a variant of (etyl) .

Noun

(es)
  • A piece of cloth, or other suitable material, sewed or otherwise fixed upon a garment to repair or strengthen it, especially upon an old garment to cover a hole.
    • His sleeves had patches on the elbows where different fabric had been sewn on to replace material that had worn away.
  • A small piece of anything used to repair damage or a breach; as, a patch on a kettle, a roof, etc.
    • I can't afford to replace the roof, which is what it really needs. I'll have the roofer apply a patch .
  • A repair intended to be used for a limited time; (differs from previous usage in that it is intended to be a temporary fix and the size of the repair is irrelevant).
    This usage can mean that the repair is temporary because it is an early but necessary step in the process of properly, completely repairing something,
    • Before you can fix a dam, you have to apply a patch to the hole so that everything can dry off.
    or that it is temporary because it is not meant to last long or will be removed as soon as a proper repair can be made, which will happen in the near future.
    "This patch should hold until you reach the city," the mechanic said as he patted the car's hood.
  • A small, usually contrasting but always somehow different or distinct, part of something else (location, time, size);
    • The world economy had a rough patch in the 1930s.
    The storms last summer washed away parts of the road so we can expect some rough patches up ahead.
    To me, a normal cow is white with black patches , but Sarah's from Texas and most of the cows there have solid brown, black, or red coats.
    Doesn't that patch of clouds looks like a bunny?
    I lost my locket in this patch of grass here.
    When ice skating, be sure to stay away from reeds, there's always thin patches of ice there and you could fall through.
    I never get first place because on track eight, right after you pass the windmill, there's a patch of oil in the road that always gets me.
  • A small piece of black silk stuck on the face or neck to heighten beauty; an imitation beauty mark.
  • * Beaumont and Fletcher
    • Your black patches you wear variously.
  • (medicine) A piece of material used to cover a wound.
  • (medicine) An adhesive piece of material, impregnated with a drug, which is worn on the skin; the drug being slowly absorbed over a period of time.
    • Many people use a nicotine patch to wean themselves off of nicotine.
  • (medicine) A cover worn over a damaged eye, an eyepatch.
    • He had scratched his cornea so badly that his doctor told him to wear a patch .
  • A block on the muzzle of a gun, to do away with the effect of dispart, in sighting.
  • (computing) A patch file, a file used for input to a patch program or that describes changes made to a computer file or files, usually changes made to a computer program that fix a programming bug.
  • A small piece of material that is manually passed through a gun barrel to clean it.
  • A piece of greased cloth or leather used as wrapping for a rifle ball, to make it fit the bore.
  • A cable connecting two pieces of electrical equipment.
  • A sound setting for a musical synthesizer (originally selected by means of a patch cable).
    • Synonyms
    * (piece of black silk) beauty spot * section, area, blotch, spot, period of time, spell, stretch * diff file
    Derived terms
    * cabbage patch * not a patch on * patch file * patch up * patchwork * patchy

    Verb

    (es)
  • To mend by sewing on a piece or pieces of cloth, leather, or the like; as, to patch a coat.
  • *, chapter=8
    • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=That concertina was a wonder in its way. The handles that was on it first was wore out long ago, and he'd made new ones of braided rope yarn. And the bellows was patched in more places than a cranberry picker's overalls.}}
  • To mend with pieces; to repair by fastening pieces on.
  • To make out of pieces or patches, like a quilt.
  • To join or unite the pieces of; to patch the skirt.
  • A temporary, removable electronic connection, as one between two components in a communications system.
  • * (rfdate) The Matrix Revolutions , Scene: Starting the Logos, 00:43:09 - 00:43:32
    • [the control panel of hovercraft'' The Logos ''has lit up after being jumped by'' The Hammer]
    Sparky: ''She lives again.''
    Crew member of The Hammer via radio: ''You want us to patch an uplink to reload the software, Sparky?''
    Sparky: ''Yeah, that'd be swell. And can you clean the windshield while you're at it?
  • To repair or arrange in a hasty or clumsy manner; – generally with up; as, to patch up a truce.
  • (computing) To make the changes a patch describes; to apply a patch to the files in question. Hence:
  • # To fix or improve a computer program without a complete upgrade.
  • # To make a quick and possibly temporary change to a program.
  • To connect two pieces of electrical equipment using a cable.
    • Synonyms
    * See also

    See also

    * diff * diff file

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (es)
  • (archaic) A paltry fellow; a rogue; a ninny; a fool.
  • * 1610 , , act 3 scene 2
    • What a pied ninny's this! Thou scurvy patch !

    External links

    * * *

    Anagrams

    * ----

    plug

    English

    (wikipedia plug)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (electricity) A pronged connecting device which fits into a mating socket.
    • I pushed the plug back into the electrical socket and the lamp began to glow again.
  • Any piece of wood, metal, or other substance used to stop or fill a hole; a stopple.
    • Pull the plug out of the tub so it can drain.
  • (US) A flat oblong cake of pressed tobacco.
    • He preferred a plug of tobacco to loose chaw.
  • (US, slang) A high, tapering silk hat.
  • (US, slang) A worthless horse.
    • That sorry old plug is ready for the glue factory!
  • (construction) A block of wood let into a wall to afford a hold for nails.
  • A mention of a product (usually a book, film or play) in an interview, or an interview which features one or more of these.
    • During the interview, the author put in a plug for his latest novel.
  • (geology) A body of once molten rock that hardened in a volcanic vent. Usually round or oval in shape.
    • Pressure built beneath the plug in the caldera, eventually resulting in a catastrophic explosion of pyroclastic shrapnel and ash.
  • (fishing) A type of lure consisting of a rigid, buoyant or semi-buoyant body and one or more hooks.
    • The fisherman cast the plug into a likely pool, hoping to catch a whopper.
  • (horticulture) A small seedling grown in a tray from expanded polystyrene or polythene filled usually with a peat or compost substrate.

    • Synonyms

    * (hole filler) bung, stopper * (worthless horse) dobbin, hack, jade, nag

    Derived terms

    * butt-plug * breech plug * bridge plug * fire plug * glow plug * hawse plug * plugboard * plug and feather * plug centerbit * plug rod * plug valve * spark plug

    Coordinate terms

    * (worthless horse) bum (racing )

    Verb

    (plugg)
  • To stop with a plug; to make tight by stopping a hole.
    • He attempted to plug the leaks with some caulk.
  • To blatantly mention a particular product or service as if advertising it.
    • The main guest on the show just kept plugging his latest movie: it got so tiresome.
  • (informal) To persist or continue with something.
    • Keep plugging at the problem until you find a solution.
  • To shoot a bullet into something with a gun.
  • * 1884,
    • I am awfully glad that you kept your nerve and plugged him; it would have been better if you could have nailed him through the right shoulder, which would not have killed him...
  • (slang) to have sex with, penetrate sexually.
    • I'd love to plug her.

    Related terms

    * plug in * unplug

    Anagrams

    * gulp ----