E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Cross-patch.
A disagreeable, ill-tempered person, male or female. Patch means a fool or gossip; so called from his parti-coloured or patched dress. A cross-patch is an ill-tempered fool or gossip. Patch, meaning “fellow,” is common enough; half a dozen examples occur in Shakespeare, as a “scurvy patch,” a “soldier’s patch,” “What patch is made our porter?” “a crew of patches,” etc.
