spot
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /spɒt/
rhymes: -ɒt
ipa: /spɑt/
Forms: form: spots
form: spotting
form: spotted
form: spotted
Etymology: From Middle English spot, spotte, partially from Middle Dutch spotte (“spot, speck”), and partially merging with Middle English splot, from Old English splott (“spot, plot of land”), from Proto-West Germanic *splott, from Proto-Germanic *spluttaz (“segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *splt-no- (“an off-split, segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to split”).
Cognate with North Frisian spot (“speck, piece of ground”), Low German spot (“speck”), Old Norse spotti (“small piece”). See also splot, splotch.
Senses: examples: text: Try to spot the differences between these two pictures.
text: The campaign aimed to give commuters the confidence to trust their own instincts and intervene if they spot someone vulnerable who may be at risk of suicide, and to talk to them to interrupt their suicidal thoughts.
ref: 2020 July 1, Ruth Sutherland, Neil Peters, “Answering the call”, in Rail, page 47:
glosses: To see, find; to pick out, notice, locate, distinguish or identify.
examples: text: I’ll spot you ten dollars for lunch.
text: “It’s close to payday, but you’re welcome to what I have. Maybe Wickliffe can spot me a few.”
ref: 2018, Tayari Jones, An American Marriage, Oneworld Publications, page 185:
glosses: To loan a small amount of money to someone.
examples: text: Hard water will spot if it is left on a surface.
text: a garment spotted with mould
glosses: To stain; to leave a spot (on).
examples: text: No palm-tree rose to spot the wilderness; […]
ref: 1853, Robert Southey, The Poetical Works of Robert Southey, page 6:
text: […] many ships spotting the dark blue deep / With snowy sails, fled fast as ours came nigh, […]
ref: 1855, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Works, page 83:
text: […] Amid lanes and through old woods, where lately the violets peep’d from the ground, spotting the gray debris, […]
ref: 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:
glosses: To cover with spots, to speckle.
examples: text: "If you've got regular periods with an IUD that's fine, but if you're starting to spot or get quite a regular loss, then it should be carefully investigated." (Last)
ref: 1988, Anne Dickson, Nikki Henriques, Women on Menopause: A Practical Guide to a Positive Transition, Inner Traditions / Bear & Co, →ISBN, page 39:
glosses: To experience vaginal spotting; to expel blood from the vagina.
examples: text: And it is beginning to spot with rain. I must start work on a shelter.
ref: 2019 April 1, Louise Allen, Least Likely to Marry a Duke: A Regency Historical Romance, Harlequin, →ISBN:
text: […] thunder growled as if to confirm his prediction. Rain was beginning to spot as he kissed me in parting. I had to hurry back to the Assembly Rooms to avoid a soaking.
ref: 2010 May 3, Celia Rees, Pirates!, A&C Black, →ISBN, page 57:
glosses: To rain slightly, in scattered, infrequent drops, for example when first beginning to rain.
examples: text: I spotted the carpet where the child dropped spaghetti.
glosses: To remove, or attempt to remove, a stain.
glosses: To retouch a photograph on film to remove minor flaws.
examples: text: I can’t do a back handspring unless somebody spots me.
text: There had not been time to build handrails, so lines of women spotted the sides of the ramp.
ref: 1989 April 15, Angela Bowen, “Towards a National Lesbian Conference”, in Gay Community News, page 2:
topics: climbing
dance
dancing
gymnastics
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
weightlifting
glosses: To support or assist a maneuver, or to be prepared to assist if safety dictates.
examples: text: Most figure skaters do not spot their turns like dancers do.
topics: dance
dancing
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To keep the head and eyes pointing in a single direction while turning.
examples: text: Link not me in self same chain / With the wicked-working folk, / Who their spotted thoughts do cloak.
ref: 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:
english: The New Arcadia
translation: The New Arcadia
text: If ever I shall close these eyes but once, / May I live spotted for my perjury.
ref: 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:
glosses: To stain; to blemish; to taint; to disgrace; to tarnish, as reputation.
glosses: To cut or chip (timber) in preparation for hewing.
examples: text: The referee had to spot the pink on the blue spot.
topics: ball-games
billiards
games
hobbies
lifestyle
snooker
sports
glosses: To place (an object) at a location indicated by a spot.
examples: text: The black ball won't spot – the green is in the way.
topics: ball-games
billiards
games
hobbies
lifestyle
snooker
sports
glosses: Of a ball, to be capable of being placed on its own spot.
examples: text: The aircraft is spotted on the catapult, and the console operator turns the crank to FIRST READY, causing the exhaust valve to close.
ref: 1959, Aviation Boatswain's Mate 3 & 2: Navy Training Courses, United States. Bureau of Naval Personnel, page 315:
text: 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.
ref: 1990, Mike Harvell, Airman, pages 9–37:
topics: aeronautics
aerospace
aviation
business
engineering
government
military
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
politics
war
glosses: To position (an aircraft) on the deck of an aircraft carrier ready for launch by catapult.
topics: rail-transport
railways
transport
glosses: To position (a locomotive or car) at a predetermined point, e.g., for loading or unloading.
Synonyms: word: catch sight of
word: clock
word: decern
word: descry
word: espy
word: goam
word: ken
word: make out
word: spot
word: spy
Hypernyms: word: detect
word: pay attention
word: see
Derived terms: self-spot
spot the ball
spot the difference
Related terms: word: glance