blotted

Blotted is the past tense and past participle of blot, and, as an adjective, describes something marked by blotches or smears. The verb blot historically referred to absorbing liquid with an absorbent material or to drying ink prone to spreading. In writing and drawing, blotting paper is used to soak up excess ink to prevent feathering; to blot a stroke means to remove or lessen it, often by dabbing with blotting paper. The term blot can also mean to erase or obscure something, as in blotting out a name or a line.

In common usage, something described as blotched has irregular dark patches—an operator might say the fabric is blotched after dyeing.

In science, blotting refers to a family of laboratory techniques for transferring macromolecules from a gel or solution to a solid support, typically a membrane. Examples include Southern blot (DNA), Northern blot (RNA), and Western blot (protein). In these methods, the sample is blotted onto the membrane to immobilize the molecules for detection. The past tense form "blotted" is used to describe the state after transfer, e.g., "the samples were blotted onto the membrane." Blotting can also describe the process in which proteins or nucleic acids are detected by probes after immobilization.

In art and printing, blotting can refer to deliberate smears or transfers of pigment to achieve texture or shading, or to accidental blotting of ink that creates irregular shapes.