Patch Explained

The term patch may refer to:

Textiles

• Embroidered patch applied to clothing by organizations or individuals
• Eyepatch, used in the treatment of eye disorders, or for aesthetic purposes in covering an injured or missing eye
• Shoulder patch, or Shoulder Sleeve Insignia (US Army), various types of insignia used for military identification
• Patch, a piece of textile or fabric used to repair a hole in a larger piece. See: Maintenance, repair and operations

Medication

• Transdermal patch, skin patch to administer medication via the skin
• Nicotine patch, used to quit smoking
• Contraceptive patch, used to prevent pregnancy
• Patch, a type of Bandage or other piece of material, used medically to cover a wound

Electronics

• Patch (synthesizer), a sound setting for musical synthesizers
• Patch cable, an electrical cable which can be used to alter the functionality of a piece of electrical equipment
• Autopatch or phone patch, used in amateur radio to access an outgoing connection

Land

• Patch and mosaic, a habitat patch in landscape ecology
• Patch, a small garden, or a place where specific fruits or vegetables are grown (e.g. pumpkin patch)

Music

• "Patches", a tragic 1962 ballad sung by Dickey Lee
• "Patches", 1970 hit record for Chairmen of the Board (band), later covered by Clarence Carter

People

• Alexander Patch (1889-1945), general of US Army in World War II
• Patch Adams, aka Hunter Adams (b. 1945), founder of the Gesundheit! Institute
• Patch, aka Steve Johnson (Days of our Lives), a fictional character on the American soap opera Days of Our Lives
• Patch, a fictional character from The Tribe (TV series) played by Morgan Palmer-Hubbard

Computing

• Patch (computing), a fix for a software program where the actual binary executable and related files are modified.
• Patch (Unix), a UNIX utility that applies a script generated by the diff program to a set of files, allowing changes from one file to be automatically applied to another file.
• Patch, a 3-D Bézier curve used in computer graphics, or a primitive in some 3-D software packages

Other uses

• Patch, the practice of compulsory figures in figure skating, as each skater is assigned their own "patch" of ice