Also 3–7 spotte, 4–7 spott, 4–6 spote. (ME. spot, = MDu. spotte, spot (WFlem. spotte), LG. (EFris.) spot, MDa. *spot (pl. spottæ), speck, spot, NFris. spot, spöt, Norw. spott, speck, spot, piece of ground; also ON. and Icel. spotti (spottr) small piece, bit. It is doubtful whether the word is original in all these languages.]
I. 1. fig. A moral stain, blot, or blemish; a stigma or disgrace.
a. 1200. Vices & Virtues, 95. Wepeð forð mid me … & waschen ðe spottes of ure euele ðeawes!
c. 1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 2646. He suld … Mak him redy and clense hym clene Or al spottes of syn þat mught be sene.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., A. 764. Cum hyder to me, my lemman swete, For mote ne spot is non in þe.
c. 1400. Apol. Loll., 53. He schal draw spott of good þing iuel tane.
c. 1450. trans. De Imitatione, III. lxi. 144. Lete us putte no spotte in our glory in fleyng fro þe crosse.
1526. Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W., 1531), 185 b. This spot of synne god dothe away.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 129. To the intent they myght washe out this spotte, they invente an other waye more easye.
1639. S. Du Verger, trans. Camus’ Admir. Events, 45. I had rather dye a thousand deaths, then to set such a spot on my blood, and posterity.
1650. Hubbert, Pill Formality, 104. Neither should their spot have been differenced or known from the spot of the wicked.
1784. Cowper, Tiroc., 685. Safe under such a wing, the boy shall show No spots contracted among grooms below.
1837. Carlyle, Fr. Rev., III. II. i. The Giroade has touched, this day, on the foul black-spot of its fair Convention Domain.
b. Without article, esp. in without spot.
a. 1340. Hampole, Psalter, xiv. 2. He þat ingase wiþouten spot.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 22. Goodlihiede and innocence Withouten spot of eny blame.
1404–8. 26 Pol. Poems, vii. 54. [Let] No fende spot vppon the spyȝe.
1548–9. (Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, 126 b. Without spot of sinne.
1580. Reg. Privy Council Scot., III. 281. His guidsire … and himself … hes faithfullie servit his Hienes … without spot or reproche.
1611. Bible, 1 Tim. vi. 14. Keepe this commandement without spot.
1781. Cowper, Expost., 261. Thy services, once holy without spot, Mere shadows now.
1821. Shelley, Adonais, xlv. Sublimely mild, a Spirit without spot.
1844. Dickens, Chimes, II. As to character,… [they] will have it as free from spot and speck in us afore they’ll help us.
† c. The spot of, the stain or stigma of (something disgraceful). Obs.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 49. Lest he should be noted with the spot of Nygardshyp.
1567. in 6th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., 642/1. Quhairin gif we failȝe, we ar content to vndirly the spot of vntrewth, ingraitnes and defamatioun.
1603. Reg. Privy Council Scot., VI. 524. The perpetuall spott of perjurie dew to thame for thair violatioun of the said assuirance.
1647. N. Bacon, Disc. Govt. Eng., I. xxxviii. (1739), 57. First Twelve men enquired of the fame and ground thereof; which if liked, rendred the party under the spot of delinquency.
d. Applied to persons.
1526. Tindale, 2 Pet. ii. 13. Spottes they are and filthynes. Ibid., Jude 12. These are spottes which … ȝfeast togedder.
1606. Shaks., Ant. & Cl., IV. xii. 35. Follow his Chariot, like the greatest spot Of all thy Sex.
1616. R. C., Times’ Whistle (1871), 79. By some devill got, For man could never, sure, beget a spot Of such vncleannesse.
1673. Wycherley, Gentl. Dancing-Master, V. i. Thou spot, sploach of my family and blood!
2. A small discoloring or disfiguring mark; a speck or stain.
1340. Ayenb., 228. Þe huite robe huerinne þe spot is uouler and more yzyenne þanne in anoþer cloþ.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XIII. 315. Þi best cote … Hath many moles and spottes, it moste ben ywasshe.
1509. Hawes, Past. Pleas., XXXVIII. (Percy Soc.), 196. Ful lyke the gold that is moost pure and fyne, Withouten spotte of blacke encombremente.
1591. Harington, Orl. Fur., XXXIII. lxx. The Moone was like a glasse all voyd of spot.
1617. Moryson, Itin., III. 174. They cannot bee more provoked, then by casting any spot upon their heads.
1698. Fryer, Acc. E. India & P., 213. The Diamond … Without Spots or Foulness, is called a Paragon-stone, and in full Perfection.
1784. Cowper, Task, IV. 554. The stain Appears a spot upon a vestal’s robe, The worse for what it soils.
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., vii. (1842), 200. All retorts with spots … in the part to be heated should be rejected.
b. Const. of the substance causing the stain or disfigurement. (Passing into sense 7.)
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), ix. 36. Ȝit þe spottes of þe qwhit mylk er sene apon þe stanes.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 150. Onone as sho tuchid it þer apperid a dropp & a spott of blude. Ibid., 335. Þer was not on all his clothis a drope of myre nor a spott of clay.
1595. Shaks., John, IV. ii. 253. An innocent hand, Not painted with the Crimson spots of blood.
1677. Miége, Fr. Dict., II. A spot of oyl on a sute of cloaths.
1736. Bailey, Household Dict., s.v., To take a Spot of Oil out of Sattin, &c.
1820. Shelley, Œd. Tyr., II. ii. 77. A spot or two [of ditchwater] on me would do no harm.
1825. Scott, Talism., xxviii. What signifies counting the spots of dirt that we are about to wash from our hands?
3. In special senses: † a. A mark or speck on the eye; also, a disease characterized by these.
a. 1400. Stockholm Med. MS., fol. 98, For a spot in þe eye.
1483. Cath. Angl., 356/1. A Spotte jn ye eghe…, glaucoma.
1500. Ortus Vocab., Glaucoma, a sport in the eye.
c. 1623. Lodge, Poor Mans Talent, C 2. The spotts in the eies may easily bee cured in the yonger sort.
1639. O. Wood, Alph. Bk. Secrets, 59. This cureth Spot, Pearle, Web, or any thing else in the Eye.
b. An eruptive or other disfiguring mark on the skin.
a. 1425. trans. Arderne’s Treat. Fistula, etc. 50. Al spottez or filþez of þe skyn which giffeþ oute watre.
c. 1440. Alph. Tales, 82. So þe pestelence come;… & when he had þe spottys þe fadur held hym vp in his armys.
1560. Bible (Geneva), Lev. xiii. 4. If the white spot be in ye skin of his flesh [etc.].
1611. Cotgr., Rousseurs, little, red, wan, or blackish pimples or spots in the face, &c.
1669. [see BLOTCH sb. 1].
1725. N. Robinson, Th. Physick, 296. Scorbutic Spots and blotches emboss the Legs, Arms, and Thighs.
1789. Massachusetts Spy, 15 Jan., 1/4. For common spots, or bunched cancers, put some of the salts on lint.
1818–20. E. Thompson, trans. Cullen’s Nosology, 319. Spilosis.… Spots.
1843. Abdy, Water Cure, 53. A girl … had … several spots in the face.
fig. 1781. Cowper, Expost., 105. His unsuspecting sheep … Catch from each other a contagious spot, The foul forerunner of a gen’ral rot.
c. A dark mark on the face of the sun, moon or a planet. (Cf. sun-spot.)
1605. Camden, Rem., Epigr., 15. Of the fiery colour of the Planet Mars, And the spotts in the Moone he giueth this reason.
c. 1641. Bp. Mountagu, Acts & Mon. (1642), 117. It is lately discovered that spots are in the Sun: and if our sight deceive us not, there be in the Moone.
1706. E. Ward, Wooden World Diss. (1708), 48. You discover him by his Phrases, as apparently as you can the Spots of the Moon with a Telescope.
1784. Cowper, Task, I. 714. Where finds Philosophy her eagle eye, With which she gazes at yon burning disk Undazzled, and detects and counts his spots?
1854. Tomlinson, trans. Arago’s Astron., 79. The spots, which have served for determining the period of the rotation of Mars.
1872. Ruskin, Eagle’s N., § 206. Science does its duty, not in telling us the causes of spots in the sun; but [etc.].
d. A discoloration produced upon the leaves or fruit of a plant by various fungi.
1852. Beck’s Florist, 140. How to prevent the ‘spot,’ and some other diseases to which Pelargoniums are heir.
1905. Daily News, 14 April, 4. That dread disease of cucumber and melon plants, known as ‘spot.’
e. colloq. (See quot.)
1894. Daily News, 1 Feb., 7/1. The eggs … are what we call ‘spots,’ half good and half bad.
II. 4. A small, usually roundish, mark of a different color from the main surface.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 736, in O. E. Misc. He is blac so bro of qual, mið wite spottes sapen al.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xxii. 101. Þai hafe on þaire heuedes a reed spotte.
c. 1480. Henryson, Test. Cres., 260. Hir gyse was gray, and full of spottis blak.
1535. Coverdale, Jer. xiii. 23. Like as the man of Inde maye chaunge his skynne, & the cat of the mountayne hir spottes.
1590. Shaks., Mids. N., II. i. 11. The Cowslips tall, her pensioners bee, In their gold coats, spots you see.
1638. Junius, Paint. Ancients, 94. I shall but mention here … the partie-coloured spots of pretious stones.
1736. Gray, Statius, II. 25. A tiger’s pride … With native spots and artful labour gay.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), II. 151. While we distinctly behold the black spots that are to the right and left.
1844. E. R. Mardon, Billiards, 111. The marked ball should have but one spot, and that as small as possible.
1892. Photogr. Ann., II. 578. The usual series of masks, upon which are placed the two white spots.
transf. 1632. Lithgow, Trav., VI. 292. The Countrey … ouercled heere and there with spots of Sheepe and Goates.
1884. Stables, Our Friend the Dog, vii. 61. Spot—A hollow between the eyes, marking the union of the frontal with the nasal bones.
fig. 1634. Milton, Comus, 5. Above the smoak and stirr of this dim spot, Which men call Earth.
1781. Cowper, Expost., 694. A world is up in arms, and thou, a spot, Not quickly found if negligently sought [etc.].
† b. A patch worn on the face; a beauty-spot.
1579. Lyly, Euphues (Arb.), 16. Their shadowes, their spots, their lawnes,… their ruffes, their rings. Ibid. (1592), Midas, I. ii. Earerings, borders, crippins, shadowes, spots, and so many other trifles.
1665. Pepys, Diary, 13 Jan. The first time that ever I saw her to wear spots.
1667. L. Stucley, Gospel Glass, xxi. (1670), 214. Are not some puff’d up with their fine Clothes,… Ribbons, Dressings, yea with their very Spots?
1735. Pope, Ep. Lady, 43. Ladies, like variegated Tulips, show;… Their happy Spots the nice admirer take.
c. Phr. To knock the spots off or out of, to beat thoroughly, surpass, excel. Orig. U.S.
1849. Valley Spirit (Chambersburg, PA), 27 Oct., 2/2. The Apollonicon—the musical wonder of the world—… when in full blast, has been known to ‘knock the spots off’ the Sun.
1867. Latham, Black & White, 125. We did knock the spots off them that time.
1887. F. Francis, Jr. Saddle & Mocassin, 152. She can knock the spots out of these boys at that game.
1888. Pall Mall Gaz., 24 Feb., 5/1. The breezes blowing … in a way which ‘knocked spots’ … out of the fragrance of the hayfields.
5. a. A variety of domestic pigeon, having white plumage with a spot of another color above the beak.
a. 1672. Willughby, Ornith. (1676), 133. Spots, Anglicè, quoniam in fronte supra rostrum maculam habent singulæ.
1725. Fam. Dict., s.v. Pigeon, There are, indeed, many Sorts of Pigeons, such as … Barbs,… Owls, Spots, Trumpeters.
1765. Treat. Dom. Pigeons, 132. The Spot … is about the size of a small runt, and was brought hither from Holland.
1834. Mudie, Feathered Tribes, I. 74. The principal ones [sc. pigeons] are … the Smiter, the Spot, the Tumbler [etc.].
1861. Darwin, Orig. Spec. (ed. 3), 26. I also crossed a barb with a spot, which is a white bird with a red tail and red spot on the forehead.
1881. Lyell, Pigeons, 73. The spot has been described by every English writer, including Willoughby, and is common on the Continent.
b. A spotted textile material.
1798. Jane Austen, Lett. (1884), I. 186. My coarse spot I shall turn into a petticoat very soon.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 1232. The draught and cording of a spot whose two sides are similar, but reversed.
c. In moth-names (see quots.).
1832. J. Rennie, Consp. Butterfl. & Moths, 94. The Gold Spot … appears the middle of August. Ibid., 97. The Marbled White Spot. Ibid., 153. The Diamond Spot.
d. U.S. With numbers: A dollar (-bill).
1848. Lowell, Biglow P., Ser. I. ix. 176. He said He’d give a fifty spot right out, to git ye, ’live or dead.
1896. J. Lillard’s Poker Stories, 246. But one single dollar remained of that five spot.
e. U.S. The red fish or red drum.
1882. Jordan & Gilbert, Synopsis Fishes N. Amer., 574. L[iostomus] xanthurus, Spot; Goody; Oldwife.
1885. B. Phillips, in Harper’s Mag., Jan., 221/1. It might be … a spot … of five or a tarpon of a hundred pounds.
1902. Jordan & Evermann, Amer. Food & Game Fishes, 260. For bait [of the great barracuda] use live mullet, spot, grunt, or other small fish.
6. Billiards. a. One or other of the three marked places on a billiard-table, esp. the one at the upper end of the table upon which the red ball is placed. b. ellipt. The spot-ball, or the person who plays it; a spot-stroke, or the score obtained by this.
18[?]. Laws of Billiards, xiii. in Mardon, Billiards (1844), 115. If the red ball has been put into a pocket, it must not be placed on the spot till the other balls have done rolling.
1856. Crawley, Billiards (1859), 5. Three spots will be found on all good tables;… the third a distance of thirteen inches from the Cushion. This is called the spot.
1857. ‘C. Bede,’ Nearer & Dearer, i. 1. ‘How is the game?’ ‘Twenty spot; ten striker.’ Ibid., ii. 14. I can’t make out the red from the spot.
1880. Times, 28 Sept., 11/5. He kept possession of the table until he had added up 151 (40 spots), when he had to give up.
III. 7. A small piece, amount or quantity; a particle, a drop. Usu. with of (cf. 2 b).
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 17137. For he lefft not of hir a spot That he ne hit hewe as flesch to pot.
1662. Hibbert, Body Divinity, I. 284. The whole course of life is but … a little spot of time between two eternities.
1738. Wesley, Ps. CIII. iv. As high as Heaven its arch extends, Above this little Spot of Clay.
1799. Wordsw., Ruth, 71. As quietly as spots of sky Among the evening clouds.
1840. Florist’s Jrnl. (1846), I. 219. That most numerous class of growers, who grow but a little spot.
1849. Cupples, Green Hand, xvi. (1856), 157. ’Twas no use looking as yet for a spot of room.
1881. Jefferies, Wood Magic, II. ii. 66. A few spots of rain came driving along.
† b. A piece of work. Obs. (Cf. PIECE sb. 7.)
1689. Andros Tracts, III. 203. Whether it would not be a fine spot of work … to restore them to their former places?
1723. Mrs. Centlivre, Wonder, III. 31. Zounds! she here! I have made a fine spot of work on’t.
1777. Dibdin, Quaker, I. i. A very pretty spot of work this!
1821. Scott, Nigel, xxvii. Here is a bonny spot of work, and me alone, and on foot too!
c. In spots, occasionally, at intervals; to some extent. U.S.
1852. Mrs. Stowe, Uncle Tom’s C., xvi. Mammy has a kind of obstinacy about her, in spots, that everybody don’t see as I do.
1859. Bartlett, Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), 437. A boatman on the Mississippi, being asked how he managed to secure sleeping time, answered, ‘I sleep in spots’; that is, at intervals, by snatches.
1872. De Vere, Americanisms, 636. The phrase ‘He is clever in spots,’ gives a man credit for fragmentary ability.
d. colloq. A drop of liquor.
1885. D. C. Murray, Rainbow Gold, ii. A little spot of rum, William, with a squeeze of lemon in it.
1896. Evesham Jrnl., 11 Jan. (E.D.D.), Defendant … said he never had a spot of beer.
8. A particular place or locality of limited extent.
13[?]. E. E. Allit. P., A. 13. Syþen in þat spote hit fro me sprange, Ofte haf I wayted [etc.]. Ibid. To þat spot … I entred in þat erber grene.
1667. Milton, P. L., IX. 439. Spot more delicious then those Gardens … of reviv’d Adonis, or renownd Alcinous.
a. 1700. Evelyn, Diary, April 1646. The most pleasant spot in Italy.
1743. Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, 106. Having publickly declar’d, that he will never go off this Spot.
1857. Livingstone, Trav., iii. 54. Our next station is a lovely spot in the otherwise dry region.
1891. Farrar, Darkn. & Dawn, xlvii. There was one spot in Rome which was calm amid all tumults.
b. A small space or extent of ground, etc.
c. 1440. York Myst., xxxii. 332. A spotte of erthe for to by, wayte nowe I will, To berie in pilgrimes.
1677. W. Hubbard, Narrative (1865), II. 70. Some Spots and Skirts of more desirable Land upon the Banks of some Rivers.
1697. Dryden, Virg., Georg., IV. 191. Lab’ring well his little Spot of Ground.
1726. Swift, Gulliver, II. vii. Whoever could make … two blades of grass to grow upon a spot of ground [etc.].
1765. Museum Rust., IV. 259. You must not sow lucerne without corn, unless your spot of land is too small to use a harrow in.
1811. Regul. & Orders Army, 137. A Tent … pitched upon the best dry Spot of ground in the vicinity.
1845. J. Coulter, Adv. in Pacific, v. 42. Nearly at the summit … there is a spot of excellent land, of four or five acres in extent.
1891. Mary E. Wilkins, Humble Romance, 53. The products of his garden spot were his staple articles of food.
transf. 1779. Forrest, Voy. N. Guinea, 122. Off the rock of Sipsipa, are three spots of breakers,… one without another.
c. north. dial. A place of employment; a situation.
1877–. in northern glossaries, etc.
1892. M. C. F. Morris, Yorksh. Folk-talk, 206. Martinmas was the season for the lads and lasses to change their spots, as they call their situations.
9. On (or upon) the spot: a. Without having time to move from the place; straightway, at once.
1677. Miége, Fr. Dict., II. To die on the spot, mourir sur la place.
1686. trans. Chardin’s Trav. Persia, 229. Had I drank as much as my neighbours, I had dy’d upon the spot.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 40, ¶ 10. In which Engagement there were Eighteen Hundred Men kill’d on the Spot.
1760–72. H. Brooke, Fool of Qual. (1809), II. 151. I shall … run mad on the very spot for joy.
1835. I. Taylor, Spir. Despot., iii. 94. Punishing the refractory either on the spot or in the persons of their posterity.
1856. Reade, Never too late, xi. They had not yet … murdered a single one on the spot.
1885. ‘Mrs. Alexander,’ Valerie’s Fate, iii. I invited them both on the spot to afternoon tea on Saturday.
b. At the very place or locality in question.
1687. Miége, Gt. Fr. Dict., II. I was upon the spot, j’ai ete sur les Lieux.
1699. Bentley, Phal., 209. The Prizes … for those that perform’d best, were ready upon the spot, and made part of the Procession.
1719. De Foe, Crusoe, I. (Globe), 309. The two Merchants … who liv’d just upon the Spot, and who … were very rich.
1740–1. Challoner, Mem. Missionary Priests, Pref. Grave contemporary writers, informed by such as were upon the spot, or themselves eye-witnesses of what they write.
1811. Regul. & Orders Army, 80. Officers who may be ordered … to return Home from a Foreign Station, are to apply for a Passage to the principal Agent of the Transport Board, on the Spot.
1881. Lucy B. Walford, Dick Netherby, xxii. Mischief was brewing … and he ought to be on the spot to counteract it.
c. Doing exactly what is necessary; precise and accurate. Also off the spot, inexact, irrelevant.
1884. Daily News, 16 Feb., 5/2. His county … will miss Midwinter sorely next summer, especially as he appears to be well on the spot.
1884. Lillywhite’s Cricket Ann., 6. Our ground fielding was well on the spot.
1886. Athenæum, 27 March, 420/3. Mr. Lang’s new book … is his … in its tendency to be ‘off the spot’ and to make mistakes.
10. A particular small area, part, or definite point in any surface or body.
1827. Faraday, Chem. Manip., vii. (1842), 215. Delivering the products of the distillation through minute apertures, and upon particular spots.
1860. Wraxall, Life in Sea, viii. 181. The Sea-snails have their gills at very different spots.
1884. trans. Lotze’s Metaph., 498. The many stimuli which at one and the same time excite the spots p q r … of the retina.
b. transf. with adjs.
Also ellipt. the spot, the affected part or important point.
1859. Habits of Gd. Society (new ed.), 48. Those dreams which to some [people] are the only bright spots of their lives.
1887. H. S. Cunningham, Cæruleans, I. 165. Mr. Ambrose touched a very tender spot in Camilla’s heart.
1902. Westm. Gaz., 12 July, 10/1. Lord Kitchener has a particularly soft spot for pets.
11. Comm. (From 9.) a. ellipt. as adv. At immediate cash rates; for cash payment.
The full phrase on the spot (or on spot), is also in use.
1884. York Herald, 23 Aug., 7/2. Cottonseed steady, at £8 5s. 0d. to £9 on the spot…. Linseed oil … spot and up to the end of the year 18s. 71/2d.
1900. Daily News, 13 June, 2/3. Silver remained nominally at 273/8d. per ounce spot, and 27 9–16d. forward.
b. pl. Goods at immediate cash rates.
1890. Pall Mall Gaz., 3 Sept., 6/2. He was supposed to have held from 130,000 to 150,000 bales—spots and futures.
IV. attrib. and Comb.
12. Simple attrib. a. In terms relating to the weaving of spotted fabrics, as spot-leaf, -thread, -treadle.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 1233. The spot threads … [are represented] by marks in the intervals. Ibid. The spot-treddles on the right hand work the row contained in the first six spot-leaves.
b. In sense 3 c, as spot-cavity, -cycle, -display, etc.
1867–77. G. F. Chambers, Astron., I. i. 30. At epochs of minimum spot-display.
1885. Agnes Clerke, Hist. Astron., 200. The absolute depth of spot-cavities … was determined by Father Secchi. Ibid. (1903), Astrophysics, 18. The mode of their conformity to the spot-cycle. Ibid., 92. It is commonly taken for granted that the widened lines constitute the spot-spectra.
c. In sense 6, as spot-break, -hazard, -stroke, etc.
1844. E. R. Mardon, Billiards, Pl. xxviii: The ‘Spot’ Stroke.
1869. Roberts, Billiards, 137. Spot hazard: Whenever the red is cut or driven off the spot into any pocket.
1873. Bennett & ‘Cavendish,’ Billiards, 12. His largest spot-break 57 hazards. Ibid., 25. One ball is coloured red; the other two are white, but one of the white balls has a black spot on it, and is called the Spot-white.
1875. Encycl. Brit., III. 676/2. The spot-stroke is a winning hazard made by pocketing the red ball in one of the corners from the spot.
d. In sense 11, as spot parcel, price, sale, etc.
1881. Standard, 14 Sept., 4/7. The ‘spot’ transactions … form the smallest proportion of the operations of the market.
1882. Times, 22 Feb. A similar succession of movements has taken place in the spot price of No. 2 Spring.
1887. Pall Mall Gaz., 20 June, 10/2. The spot sales at Liverpool on Saturday were only 5,000 bales.
1887. Daily News, 16 July, 6/8. Spot parcels continue in good demand, and prices steady.
1888. Times, 26 June, 12/1. There has been no alteration in the value of spot oil during the past week.
13. In parasynthetic adjs., as spot-billed, -eared, -lipped, -winged.
1713. Petiver, Aquat. Anim. Amboinæ, Tab. iv, Smooth spot-lipt Casket.
1809. Shaw, Gen. Zool., VII. II. 328. Spot-winged Shrike. Ibid. (1811), VIII. I. 244. Spot-eared Creeper.
1905. Westm. Gaz., 9 Oct., 6/3. The spot-billed toucanet (Seleindera maculirostris), now to be seen … at the ‘Zoo.’
14. Special Combs.: spot-barred a., Billiards (see quot.); † spot-dial, a sun-dial indicating the time by means of a spot; spot fairy, a variety of domestic pigeon; spot-lens, a lens having the central portion obstructed by a spot; spot-like a., resembling a spot; spot-made a., made on the spot, makeshift; spot pigeon, = sense 5 a; spot-removing a., taking out stains; spot-skin a., having spotted skins; spot snapper, an American fish (see quot.); spot stitch (see quot.).
1885. Rules Billiards, § 43. In a *spot-barred game only one winning hazard is allowed to be made in the top pockets.
1687. G. Clerke, Spot-dial, 5. The *Spot-Dial is of two sorts; in the one the Lines go to a black Spot, in the other a bright Spot goes to the Lines.
1734. Watts, Reliq. Juv., lxvii. 295. On a Ceiling Dial, usually called a Spot-Dial.
1881. Lyell, Pigeons, 88. The stork … has been already described in a late publication, under the name of *‘Spot Fairy.’
1862. Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit., II. No. 2948, That portion of the light of the ordinary *spot lens, which really tends to obliterate the shadows…, is stopped.
1847–9. Todd’s Cycl. Anat., IV. I. 69. The species begins as a *spot-like crust of uniform texture.
1887. W. Phillips, Brit. Discomycetes, 360. Sporidia hyaline; cups seated on a spot-like crust.
1894. Outing, XXIV. 173/2. The bridles were mostly *spot-made with a bit of cord doing service as reins.
1783. Latham, Gen. Synop. Birds, II. II. 615. *Spot Pigeon. This is remarkable, from having on the forehead, above the bill, a spot, which is of the same colour as the tail.
1670. Eachard, Cont. Clergy, 56. Many a good-wife … knows not any thing of the all-powerfulness of aqua-fortis, how that it is such a *spot-removing liquor.
1871. Browning, Balaust., 1318. With them fed in fellowship … *spot-skin lynxes.
1876. Goode, Fishes Bermudas, 55. The *Spot snapper and the Yellow-tail correspond doubtless to Mesoprion uninotatus … and to Ocyurus chrysurus.
1882. Caulfeild & Saward, Dict. Needlework, 125/2. *Spot stitch, a stitch made with a Foundation of Double Crochet with spots upon it in Treble Crochet.
