spot

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Spotted; p. pr. & vb. n. Spotting. ] 1. To make visible marks upon with some foreign matter; to discolor in or with spots; to stain; to cover with spots or figures; as, to spot a garment; to spot paper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To mark or note so as to insure recognition; to recognize; to detect; as, to spot a criminal. [ Cant ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To stain; to blemish; to taint; to disgrace; to tarnish, as reputation; to asperse. [ 1913 Webster ]

My virgin life no spotted thoughts shall stain. Sir P. Sidney. [ 1913 Webster ]

If ever I shall close these eyes but once,
May I live spotted for my perjury. Beau. & Fl. [ 1913 Webster ]

To spot timber, to cut or chip it, in preparation for hewing. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To become stained with spots. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Out, damned spot! Out, I say! Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A stain on character or reputation; something that soils purity; disgrace; reproach; fault; blemish. [ 1913 Webster ]

Yet Chloe, sure, was formed without a spot. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A small extent of space; a place; any particular place. “Fixed to one spot.” Otway. [ 1913 Webster ]

That spot to which I point is Paradise. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

“A jolly place, ” said he, “in times of old!
But something ails it now: the spot is cursed.” Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) A variety of the common domestic pigeon, so called from a spot on its head just above its beak. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Zool.) (a) A sciaenoid 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. pl. Commodities, as merchandise and cotton, sold for immediate delivery. [ Broker's Cant ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Crescent spot (Zool.), any butterfly of the family Melitaeidae 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 illumination; -- called also spotted lens. --
Spot rump (Zool.), the Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica). --
Spots on the sun. (Astron.) See Sun spot, ander Sun. --
On the spot, or
Upon the spot, immediately; before moving; without changing place; as, he made his decision on the spot.

It was determined upon the spot. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Stain; flaw; speck; blot; disgrace; reproach; fault; blemish; place; site; locality. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Com.) Cash paid or ready for payment at once upon delivery of property purchased. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Without a spot; especially, free from reproach or impurity; pure; untainted; innocent; as, a spotless mind; spotless behavior. [ 1913 Webster ]

A spotless virgin, and a faultless wife. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Blameless; unspotted; unblemished; pure; immaculate; irreproachable. See Blameless. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Spot"less*ly, adv. -- Spot"less*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The projected spot or circle of light used to illuminate brilliantly a single person or object or group on the stage, leaving the rest of the stage more or less unilluminated. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. hence, conspicuous public notice. [ Cant or Colloq. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. A lighting apparatus designed to throw an intense beam of light onto a small area. [ PJC ]

. (Eng. Billiards) The pocketing of the red ball in a top corner pocket from off its own spot so as to leave the cue ball in position for an easy winning hazard in either top corner pocket. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Marked with spots; as, a spotted garment or character. “The spotted panther.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Spotted fever (Med.), a name applied to various eruptive fevers, esp. to typhus fever and cerebro-spinal meningitis. --
Spotted tree (Bot.), an Australian tree (Flindersia maculosa); -- so called because its bark falls off in spots. [ 1913 Webster ]