Speck

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Speck, n. [Cf. Icel. spik blubber, AS. spic, D. spek, G. speck.].

 The blubber of whales or other marine mammals; also, the fat of the hippopotamus.  [1913 Webster]

Speck falls (Naut.), falls or ropes rove through blocks for hoisting the blubber and bone of whales on board a whaling vessel.

Speck, n. [OE. spekke, AS. specca; cf. LG. spaak.].

•  A small discolored place in or on anything, or a small place of a color different from that of the main substance; a spot; a stain; a blemish; as, a speck on paper or loth; specks of decay in fruit.  Anson.  [1913 Webster]
•  A very small thing; a particle; a mite; as, specks of dust; he has not a speck of money.  [1913 Webster]

  "Many bright specks bubble up along the blue Egean."  [1913 Webster]
•  A small etheostomoid fish (Ulocentra stigmæa) common in the Eastern United States.  [1913 Webster]

Speck, v. t. 

 To cause the presence of specks upon or in, especially specks regarded as defects or blemishes; to spot; to speckle; as, paper specked by impurities in the water used in its manufacture.  [1913 Webster]
"Carnation, purple, azure, or specked with gold."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Speck, n. & v.
--n.
1 a small spot, dot, or stain.
2 (foll. by of) a particle (speck of dirt).
3 a rotten spot in fruit.
--v.tr. (esp. as specked adj.) marked with specks.

Derivative

speckless adj.

Etymology

OE specca: cf. SPECKLE

THESAURUS

Speck

ace, amount, atom, band, bar, bespangle, bespeckle, bespot, besprinkle, birthmark, bit, black sheep, blaze, blaze a trail, blemish, bloodstain, blot, blotch, blur, brand, bread, caste mark, chalk, chalk up, check, check off, checker, checkmark, cicatrix, cicatrize, crumb, cut, dab, dapple, dappledness, dappleness, dash, daub, define, delimit, demarcate, discolor, discoloration, dole, dot, dottedness, dram, dredge, dribble, driblet, drop, droplet, dust, dwarf, earmark, engrave, engraving, eyesore, farthing, flake, fleck, flick, flour, flyspeck, foreign body, foreign intruder, fragment, freckle, freckliness, gash, gnat, gobbet, grain, granule, graving, groat, hack, hair, handful, harlequin, hatch, hint, impress, imprint, impurity, intruder, iota, iris, jot, lentigo, line, little, little bit, lota, macula, maculate, maculation, macule, make a mark, marble, marbleize, mark, mark off, mark out, marking, microbe, microorganism, midge, minim, minimum, minutia, minutiae, misfit, mite, modicum, mole, molecule, monkey wrench, mote, motley, mottle, mottledness, nevus, nick, notch, nutshell, oddball, ounce, particle, patch, pebble, pencil, pepper, pinch, pinhead, pinpoint, pittance, point, pointillage, pointillism, polka dot, polychrome, polychromize, powder, prick, print, punch, punctuate, puncture, rainbow, riddle, scar, scarification, scarify, score, scotch, scrap, scratch, scratching, scruple, seal, seam, sliver, smear, smidgen, smidgin, smirch, smitch, smouch, smudge, smut, smutch, snip, snippet, spangle, spatter, speckle, speckliness, splash, splatter, splinter, splotch, spoonful, spot, spottedness, spottiness, sprinkle, stain, stamp, stigma, stigmatize, stipple, stippledness, stippling, stone, strawberry mark, streak, striate, stripe, stud, suggestion, suspicion, taint, tarnish, tattoo, tattoo mark, tessellate, thimbleful, tick, tick off, tinge, tiny bit, tittle, touch, trace, trifling amount, trivia, underline, underscore, vanishing point, variegate, vein, watermark, weed, whit

ROGET THESAURUS

Speck

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Blemish

N blemish, disfigurement, deformity, adactylism, flaw, defect, injury, spots on the sun, eyesore, stain, blot, spot, spottiness, speck, speckle, blur, tarnish, smudge, dirt, freckle, mole, macula, patch, blotch, birthmark, blobber lip, blubber lip, blain, maculation, scar, wem, pustule, whelk, excrescence, pimple, pitted, freckled, discolored, imperfect, blobber-lipped, bloodshot, injured.