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.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
|