- On the spot
- Spot Spot (sp[o^]t), 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. (Zo["o]l.) A variety of the common domestic pigeon, so called from a spot on its head just above its beak. [1913 Webster]
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}. [1913 Webster]
7. pl. Commodities, as merchandise and cotton, sold for immediate delivery. [Broker's Cant] [1913 Webster]
{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 illumination; -- 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 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]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
