[count] 1 : a piece of material that is used to cover a hole in something or to provide extra protection to an area
▪ His pants have patches on the knees. ▪ a jacket with brown patches on the elbows ▪ He put a patch over the hole in the tire tube. 2 a : a piece of material that is worn over your eye because of injury or for medical reasons
b : a piece of material that contains a drug and that is worn on your skin to allow the drug to slowly enter your body over a long period of time
▪ She wears a nicotine patch to help her quit smoking. 3 : a small spot or area that is different from the surrounding area
▪ There were icy patches [=areas of ice] on the road. ▪ Fog patches made driving difficult. ▪ He is developing a bald patch on the back of his head. ▪ The cat has black patches on its forehead and tail. ▪ The chair's original paint is still visible in patches. [=in spots] — often + of ▪ I could see a patch of blue sky through the clouds. ▪ There are patches of weeds all over the lawn. 4 : a small area of land where a particular fruit or vegetable grows
▪ a pumpkin/strawberry patch 5 : a period of time
▪ He's going through a bad/difficult/rough patch [=spell] right now. 6 US : a piece of cloth with words or pictures that is sewn on clothing as a decoration or as part of a uniform : badge 7 computers : a program that corrects or updates an existing program
▪ a software patch 8 Brit, informal : an area that someone knows well, works or lives in, or comes from
▪ He knows everything that happens in/on his patch.