bloat (blot)

[Formerly also blote, Lay you an old courtier on the coals like a sausage, or a bloat herring. B. Jonson, Mercury Vindicated. bloat1 (blot), v . t . [Appar. bloat1 , a .] To cure by smoking, as herrings. Formerly spelled blote . I have more smoke in my mouth than would blote A hundred herrings. Fletcher , Island Prince , ii. 6.