All marriages have their sticky patches.
Small businesses are going through a bit of a bad patch just now.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.
go through a difficult patch — go through/hit a bad/difficult/rough patch INFORMAL ► to experience a lot of problems in a short period of time: »Economically, the country is going through a bad patch. »The company hit a rough patch last year, which included its first quarterly … Financial and business terms
hit a difficult patch — go through/hit a bad/difficult/rough patch INFORMAL ► to experience a lot of problems in a short period of time: »Economically, the country is going through a bad patch. »The company hit a rough patch last year, which included its first quarterly … Financial and business terms
patch — 1. noun 1) a patch over one eye Syn: cover, eye patch, covering, pad 2) a reddish patch on her wrist Syn: blotch, mark, spot, smudge, speckle, smear, stain, streak … Thesaurus of popular words
patch — 1. noun 1) a reddish patch on her wrist Syn: blotch, mark, spot, smudge, smear, stain, streak, blemish; informal splodge 2) a patch of ground Syn: plot, area, piece … Synonyms and antonyms dictionary
patch — UK US /pætʃ/ noun [C] ► IT a small computer program that can repair a problem with software: »You can download a patch to fix the problem. ● go through/hit a bad/difficult/rough patch Cf. hit a rough patch … Financial and business terms
patch — {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun 1 material over a hole VERB + PATCH ▪ have ▪ Her jeans have patches all over them. ▪ sew on/onto ▪ She wore a jacket with bright patches sewn onto it. PREPOSITION … Collocations dictionary
patch — patch1 [pætʃ] n ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(part of an area)¦ 2¦(over a hole)¦ 3¦(for growing something)¦ 4¦(computer)¦ 5¦(eye)¦ 6¦(decoration)¦ 7 a bad/difficult/sticky/rough patch 8 somebody s patch 9 not be a patch on somebody/something ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ [ … Dictionary of contemporary English
patch — patch1 [ pætʃ ] noun count ** ▸ 1 piece of cloth ▸ 2 different part of something ▸ 3 piece of ground ▸ 4 piece of software ▸ 5 with nicotine ▸ + PHRASES 1. ) a piece of cloth that you sew over a hole in clothes, or over a part where holes might… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
patch — I UK [pætʃ] / US noun [countable] Word forms patch : singular patch plural patches ** 1) an area that is different from what surrounds it Icy patches are likely on some roads. The male has a distinctive white patch on its tail. There were damp… … English dictionary
Patch clamp — The patch clamp technique is a laboratory technique in electrophysiology that allows the study of single or multiple ion channels in cells. The technique can be applied to a wide variety of cells but is especially useful in the study of excitable … Wikipedia
