potch

Etymology 1

From Old French pocher (“to poke”); akin to poach.

verb

1. To thrust.
2. To trample.
   Afterwards, the second pasture should be treated in the same manner, and the rest in course, feeding the wettest pasture after the driest, that the soil may be less potched. 1837, John Orville Taylor, The Farmer′s School Book, page 116

Etymology 2

noun

1. (chiefly Australia, mineralogy, gemmology) A type of rough opal without colour, and therefore not worth selling.
   1982, Gemmological Association of Great Britain, The Journal of Gemmology, Volume 18, page 432, Discusses the difference between potch opal and common opal. The terms are often used synonymously, but this writer shows that potch is found only in association with precious opal and differs from common opal in its structure quite substantially.
   She set them down with precision, she set them down with the same kind of care that Bernie took when he and his underlings cut opal, or when they polished the rough stones, or when they bonded opal veneer on to potch. 1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 75
   2006, Michael O'Donoghue, Gems: Their Sources, Descriptions and Identification, 6th Edition, Elsevier, UK, page 321, Likewise, a thin piece of good opal on potch (opal with no play of colour) may be cut so that the potch acts as a backing.

Etymology 3

verb

1. (transitive) To bleach rags in paper-making.
2. Obsolete form of poach (to cook in simmering water).
   The Yolks of Eggs are of themſelves ſo well prepared by Nature for nourishment, as (ſo they be Potched, or Rear boyled) they need no other preparation or mixture; yet they may be taken alſo raw, when they are new laid, with Malmſey or Sweet Wine. 1627, Francis Bacon, Sylva Sylvarum: Or, A Natural History, in Ten Centuries, published 1670, page 14
   1849, Ambroise Paré, Thomas Johnson (translator), Adriaan van den Spiegel (additional tractates), Concerning the Plague, The Workes of that Famous Chirurgion Ambroſe Parey, page 553, Eggs potched and eaten with the juice of Sorrel, are verie good. Likewiſe Barlie-water ſeaſoned with the grains of a tart Pomgranat, and if the Fever bee vehement, with the ſeeds of white Poppie.
   And if a man should break his fast with a light and nourishing meate, then I say there is nothing better than a couple of egges potched, or the yolkes of two egges sodden rere and put in one shell, seasoned with a little pepper, butter and salt, supped off warme, drinking after it a good draught of claret wine. 1860, “The Medical Times and Gazette”, in Notes and Queries, volume 1, page 167