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View synonyms for speck

speck

[ spek ]

noun

  1. a small spot differing in color or substance from that of the surface or material upon which it appears or lies:

    Specks of soot on the window sill.

  2. a very little bit or particle:

    We haven't a speck of sugar.

  3. something appearing small by comparison or by reason of distance:

    By then the town was just a speck.



verb (used with object)

  1. to mark with, or as with, a speck or specks.

speck

/ spɛk /

noun

  1. a very small mark or spot
  2. a small or tiny piece of something
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. tr to mark with specks or spots
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • speck·ed·ness [spek, -id-nis], noun
  • speckless adjective
  • speckless·ly adverb
  • speckless·ness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of speck1

before 900; Middle English specke, Old English specca; cognate with Dutch spikkel
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Word History and Origins

Origin of speck1

Old English specca; related to Middle Dutch spekelen to sprinkle
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Example Sentences

It is only when the droplet comes into contact with something like a microscopic speck of dust, pollen or pollutant - known as a cloud condensation nuclei - that it will then freeze instantly around it.

From BBC

Perhaps these specks were once family photos, diplomas hanging on walls, maybe even pages from the hymn books in the burned-down church where the spouse of one of my wife’s colleagues is the rector.

Some of the details feel marvelously resonant, especially how the off-the-clock Shelly never can scrub off every speck of glitter, or the way she keeps ripping her costume wings like some cabaret Icarus.

Wisdom laid an egg on Nov. 27 on Midway Atoll, a speck of land in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S.

Right after buying the land, he crushed up a piece of ore and found what miners call flour gold — tiny, fine specks of gold.

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specious presentspeckle