Dictionary

spot

see also: Spot

Etymology

From Middle English spot, spotte, partially from Middle Dutch spotte, and partially merging with Middle English splot, from Old English splott, from Proto-West Germanic *splott, from Proto-Germanic *spluttaz, from Proto-Indo-European *splt-no-, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel-.

Pronunciation

(British) IPA: /spɒt/
(America) IPA: /spɑt/

Noun

spot (plural spots)

A round or irregular patch on the surface of a thing having a different color, texture etc. and generally round in shape.
The leopard is noted for the spots of color in its fur.
Why do ladybugs have spots?
A stain or disfiguring mark.
I have tried everything, and I can’t get this spot out.
A pimple, papule or pustule.
That morning, I saw that a spot had come up on my chin.
I think she's got chicken pox; she's covered in spots.
A symbol on a playing card, domino, die, etc. indicating its value; a pip.
A small, unspecified amount or quantity.
Synonyms: Thesaurus:modicum
Do come 'round on Sunday for a spot of tea, won't you?
(slang, US) A bill of five-dollar or ten-dollar denomination in dollars.
Here's the twenty bucks I owe you, a ten spot and two five spots.
A location or area.
I like to eat lunch in a pleasant spot outside.
For our anniversary we went back to the same spot where we first met.
- 1667, John Milton, “Book III”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:
  That spot to which I point is Paradise.
- 1800, William Wordsworth, Hart-leap Well:
  "A jolly place," said he, "in times of old! / But something ails it now: the spot is curs'd."
- 2011, Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France‎:
  Yachvilli made it 6-0 with a second sweet strike from 45 metres after Matt Stevens was penalised for collapsing a scrum, and then slid another penalty just wide from the same spot.
A parking space.
(sports) An official determination of placement.
The fans were very unhappy with the referee's spot of the ball.
A bright lamp; a spotlight.
(US, advertising) A brief advertisement or program segment on television.
Did you see the spot on the news about the shoelace factory?
A difficult situation.
Synonyms: predicament, Thesaurus:difficult situation
She was in a real spot when she ran into her separated husband while on a date.
(gymnastics, dance, weightlifting) One who spots (supports or assists a maneuver, or is prepared to assist if safety dictates); a spotter.
(soccer) Penalty spot.
The act of spotting or noticing something.
You've misspelled "terrapin" here. —Whoops. Good spot.
A variety of the common domestic pigeon, so called from a spot on its head just above the beak.
A food fish (Leiostomus xanthurus) of the Atlantic coast of the United States, with a black spot behind the shoulders and fifteen oblique dark bars on the sides.
The southern redfish, or red horse (Sciaenops ocellatus), which has a spot on each side at the base of the tail.
(in the plural, brokers' slang, dated) Commodities, such as merchandise and cotton, sold for immediate delivery.
(physics) An autosoliton.
(finance) A decimal point; point.
Twelve spot two five pounds sterling.
Any of various points marked on the table, from which balls are played, in snooker, pool, billiards, etc.
Any of the balls marked with spots in the game of pool, which one player aims to pot, the other player taking the stripes.

Translations

French: tache
German: Fleck, Punkt
Italian: macchia
Portuguese: mancha
Russian: пятно́
Spanish: mancha

Translations

German: Fleck
Italian: macchia
Portuguese: mancha
Russian: пятно́
Spanish: mancha

Translations

French: bouton
German: Pickel, Pustel
Italian: brufolo, foruncolo
Russian: пры́щик
Spanish: grano

Translations

French: peu
German: Bisschen
Portuguese: pouco
Spanish: poquito, poquita

Translations

French: endroit, zone
German: Stelle, Ort
Italian: zona; area
Portuguese: local, ponto
Russian: ме́сто
Spanish: zona, paraje, locus

Translations

Portuguese: lâmpada
Russian: проже́ктор
Spanish: lámpara, reflector

Translations

German: Werbespot
Spanish: corto

Verb

spot (spots, present participle spotting; simple past and past participle spotted)

(transitive) To see, find; to pick out, notice, locate, distinguish or identify.
Try to spot the differences between these two pictures.
(US, slang, ditransitive) To loan a small amount of money to someone.
I’ll spot you ten dollars for lunch.
(ambitransitive) To stain; to leave a spot (on).
Hard water will spot if it is left on a surface.
a garment spotted with mould
(transitive) To cover with spots, to speckle.
- 1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems:
  […] Amid lanes and through old woods, where lately the violets peep’d from the ground, spotting the gray debris, […]
(transitive) To remove, or attempt to remove, a stain.
I spotted the carpet where the child dropped spaghetti.
(transitive) To retouch a photograph on film to remove minor flaws.
(transitive, gymnastics, dance, weightlifting, climbing) To support or assist a maneuver, or to be prepared to assist if safety dictates.
I can’t do a back handspring unless somebody spots me.
(transitive, dance) To keep the head and eyes pointing in a single direction while turning.
Most figure skaters do not spot their turns like dancers do.
(transitive) To stain; to blemish; to taint; to disgrace; to tarnish, as reputation.
- a. 1587, Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “(please specify the folio)”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New Arcadia], London: […] [John Windet] for William Ponsonbie, published 1590, →OCLC ↗:
  Link not me in self same chain / With the wicked-working folk, / Who their spotted thoughts do cloak.
- c. 1608–1610, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Philaster: Or, Love Lies a Bleeding”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1679, →OCLC ↗, Act V, scene ii:
  If ever I shall close these eyes but once, / May I live spotted for my perjury.
(transitive) To cut or chip (timber) in preparation for hewing.
(transitive, mostly, snooker and billiards) To place an object at a location indicated by a spot.
The referee had to spot the pink on the blue spot.
(aviation, military, transitive) To position (an aircraft) on the deck of an aircraft carrier ready for launch by catapult.
- 1959, Aviation Boatswain's Mate 3 & 2: Navy Training Courses, United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel, page 315:
  The aircraft is spotted on the catapult, and the console operator turns the crank to FIRST READY, causing the exhaust valve to close.
- 1990, Mike Harvell, Airman, pages 9–37:
  This spotting order varies from carrier to carrier to suit the flight-deck layout. Certain aircraft must be spotted in a specific location to permit servicing, loading of ammunition, starting, maintenance, and so forth.
(railroading, transitive) To position (a locomotive or car) at a predetermined point, e.g., for loading or unloading.