Adjacent Words

the spot definitions

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spot Spot, n. [Cf. Scot. & D. spat, Dan. spette, Sw. spott spittle, slaver; from the root of E. spit. See Spit to eject from the mouth, and cf. Spatter.] 1. A mark on a substance or body made by foreign matter; a blot; a place discolored. Out, damned spot! Out, I say! --Shak. 2. A stain on character or reputation; something that soils purity; disgrace; reproach; fault; blemish. Yet Chloe, sure, was formed without a spot. --Pope. 3. A small part of a different color from the main part, or from the ground upon which it is; as, the spots of a leopard; the spots on a playing card. 4. A small extent of space; a place; any particular place. ``Fixed to one spot.'' --Otway. That spot to which I point is Paradise. --Milton. ``A jolly place,'' said he, ``in times of old! But something ails it now: the spot is cursed.'' --Wordsworth. 5. (Zo["o]l.) A variety of the common domestic pigeon, so called from a spot on its head just above its beak. 6. (Zo["o]l.) (a) A sci[ae]noid food fish (Liostomus xanthurus) of the Atlantic coast of the United States. It has a black spot behind the shoulders and fifteen oblique dark bars on the sides. Called also goody, Lafayette, masooka, and old wife. (b) The southern redfish, or red horse, which has a spot on each side at the base of the tail. See Redfish. 7. pl. Commodities, as merchandise and cotton, sold for immediate delivery. [Broker's Cant] Crescent spot (Zo["o]l.), any butterfly of the family Melit[ae]id[ae] having crescent-shaped white spots along the margins of the red or brown wings. Spot lens (Microscopy), a condensing lens in which the light is confined to an annular pencil by means of a small, round diaphragm (the spot), and used in dark-field ilumination; -- called also spotted lens. Spot rump (Zo["o]l.), the Hudsonian godwit (Limosa h[ae]mastica). Spots on the sun. (Astron.) See Sun spot, ander Sun. On, or Upon, the spot, immediately; before moving; without changing place. It was determined upon the spot. --Swift. Syn: Stain; flaw; speck; blot; disgrace; reproach; fault; blemish; place; site; locality.