Also 5–6 spotte, 6–7 spott. [f. SPOT sb.1 Cf. WFlem. spotten to mark or stain, NFris. spotte to fix, settle.]
I. 1. trans. To stain, sully, or tarnish, in respect of moral character or qualities.
c. 1412. Hoccleve, De Reg. Princ., 3766. His disciples loued so clennesse … Hir eyen they out of hir heedes brente, Lest sighte of hem spotte myght her entente.
c. 1450. Lydg., Secrees, 741. That ther Imperial magnanymyte Shulde nat be spottyd … Towchyng the vice of froward Coveityse.
1502. Atkynson, trans. De Imitatione, I. i. (1893), 154. For them that folowe sensuall pleasure,… they spot theyr conscience, & lese the grace of god.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 8 b. Neither to suffer so greate an evill to spot & blemishe that noble house of Saxonie.
1623. Fletcher, Rule a Wife, V. Wks. 1906, III. 231. You rob two Temples,… You ruine hers, and spot her noble Husbands.
1669. Dryden, Tyrannic Love, V. i. Be all the Discords of our Bed forgot, Which, Virtue witness, I did never spot.
1855. Motley, Dutch Rep., I. iii. (1866), 113. Who might be spotted merely with the errors introduced by Luther.
1858. H. Bushnell, Nat. & Supernat., xv. (1864), 498. He spots with blemish the religion that already has a right to his faith.
refl. 1577. trans. Bullinger’s Decades (1592), 128. If … wee doe spot our-selues with a filthie and uncleane life.
1599. Sandys, Europæ Spec. (1632), 18. Some,… not content to spott themselves with all Italian impurities, proceed on to empoyson their country also.
† b. To stain with some accusation or reproach; to asperse or vilify. Obs.
a. 1542. Wyatt, in Tottell’s Misc. (Arb.), 58. Mistrust me not, though some there be, That faine would spot my stedfastnesse.
1623. T. Scott, Tongue-Combat, 9. Those of the Reformed Religion whom … you spot with three or foure crimes.
1652. Brough, Preserv. agst. Schism, 27. St. Jude spots them thus; There they feed themselves without feare.
a. 1718. Penn, Tracts, Wks. 1782, I. 492. I do not mention it to spot that Doctor.
2. To mark with spots of some defiling or discoloring substance; to stain in spots.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 470. Spotton, maculo.
1530. Palsgr., 729. Who hath spotted your shyrte sleve with ynke?
1549. Latimer, 5th Serm. bef. Edw. VI. (Arb.), 151. He yat medleth wyth pitch is like to be spotted with it.
1600. Surflet, Countrie Farme, 502. It spotteth and staineth the linnen so mightily, as that such staines will neuer be got out.
1675. Hobbes, Odyssey, VI. (1686), 71. Your Cloths … (Which in the house sulli’d and spotted lie).
1763. Mills, Syst. Pract. Husb., II. 415. Two … kinds of mildew, one of which spots the blades and stems of corn.
1798. Coleridge, France, 69. Ye that, fleeing, spot your mountain-snows With bleeding wounds.
1831. Scott, Ct. Robt., xvii. The blood which we have shed may spot our hand,… but it shall scarce stain our forehead.
1870. Morris, Earthly Par., III. 91. With rust his armour bright was spotted o’er.
b. absol. (in fig. use).
a. 1743. Savage, False Historians, Poems (1790), 292. Sure of all plagues with which dull prose is curst, Scandals, from false historians, spot the worst.
3. intr. To be subject or liable to spots; to become spotted.
1879. Warehousemen & Drapers’ Trade Jrnl., 13 Dec., 594. Even those [gloves] which have been so treated continue to ‘spot.’
1882. Garden, 11 March, 168/2. A damp, cool atmosphere, with little artificial heat, causes the flowers to spot.
II. 4. trans. To mark, cover, or decorate, with spots.
1591. Greene, Conny Catch. (1592), II. 4. They will straight spot him by sundry pollicies, and in a blacke horse, marke saddle spots.
1687. Miége, Gt. Fr. Dict., II. To spot Gawze-Hoods, broder des Coifes de Gaze. [See also SPOTTER sb. 1.]
1713. Guardian, No. 10, ¶ 5. Sometimes I take a Needle, and spot a Piece of Muslin for pretty Patty Cross-stitch.
1720. Lond. Gaz., No. 5914/1. If any Person … shall file, square, or new spot any Dice.
1818. Art Bookbinding, 51. This colour is for spotting the edges.
1864. Athenæum, 854/2. He spots the other spear-bearers [with blood] in a similar manner.
1885. D. Glasgow, Watch & Clock Making, 118. The art of spotting such small pieces by hand is not easily acquired.
b. To ornament (the face) with a patch or patches.
1666. M. M., Solomon’s Prescr., 82. Go, Gallants, get to your Glass; Powder and Curle, Paint and Spot, Deck and Adorn you, as you were wont.
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 81, ¶ 1. The Faces on one Hand, being spotted on the right side of the Forehead, and those upon the other on the Left.
c. U.S. (See quots.)
1793. Belknap, Hist. New Hampsh., III. 75. Where they find the land suitable for a road, the trees are spotted by cutting out a piece of the bark.
1828–32. in Webster.
1859. Bartlett, Dict. Amer. (ed. 2), Spot, to mark a tree by cutting a chip from its side.
d. New Zealand. To form by selecting the choicest spots or parts of a piece of land.
1898. Morris, Austral Eng., s.v. Spotting, The squatter spotted his run, purchasing choice spots.
5. Of things: To form, appear as, spots upon (a surface); to stud.
1801. Southey, Thalaba, I. xi. No palm-tree rose to spot the wilderness.
1817. Shelley, Rev. Islam, IX. iii. Many ships spotting the dark blue deep.
1822–7. Good, Study Med. (1829), V. 568. Pimples very minute…; chiefly spotting the limbs.
1892. ‘M. Field,’ Sight & Song, 22. Pinks and gentians spot her robe.
b. intr. Of rain: To fall in large, scattered drops, esp. before a shower or storm.
1849–. in dial. glossaries.
1909. Westm. Gaz., 21 Aug., 2/2. It began to spot with rain.
6. Billiards. To place (a ball) on some particular spot.
1844. E. R. Mardon, Billiards, 99. Missing the balls, the player must spot a ball.
1873. Bennett & ‘Cavendish,’ Billiards, 139. Spot the white just behind the left-hand corner of the D.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 258. If they play billiards, they let their adversary spot the red and take the balls out of the pockets.
7. With out: To free from spots or small defects; to remove or efface (small marks).
1885. C. G. W. Lock, Workshop Rec., Ser. IV. 382/2. After the prints are mounted, dried, and spotted out, roll them upon a hot steel plate.
1896. Kodak News, Sept., 87/1. Any little holes or scratches … should be carefully spotted out with a fine sable brush and stiff water colour.
III. 8. Cant. To mark or note as a criminal or suspected person.
1718. Acc. Trial Isaac Rabbins, 1. Isaac, You have been spotted before, How came you to go so far from your own Home now?
1851. Mayhew, Lond. Labour, I. 484. At length he became ‘spotted.’ The police got to know him.
1859. Slang Dict., 99. Spotted, to be known or marked by the police.
b. To inform against, split upon (a person).
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. xii. This man had ‘spotted’ the other, to save himself and get the money.
9. colloq. a. To single out or guess beforehand (the winner in a horse race).
1857. Morn. Chron., 22 June (Encycl. Dict.). Having met with tolerable success in spotting the winners.
1866. G. A. Lawrence, Sans Merci, II. iii. 52. It was quite a sight, to see those two, conning over the handicaps, and ‘spotting’ probable ‘good things’—grave and authoritative, as Cabinet Councillors.
1888. E. J. Goodman, Too Curious, xi. I spotted a few winners.
b. To catch sight of; to mark or note; to recognize or detect.
1860. O. W. Holmes, Elsie V., xxi. The inside Widow having ‘spotted’ the outside one through the blinds.
1868. Miss Braddon, Run to Earth, I. i. 17. I saw the landlord spot the notes and gold.
1880. J. Payn, Confid. Agent, II. 271. Honest John had known him to be a policeman—‘spotted him,’ as he had expressed it—at the first glance.
c. To hit in shooting.
1882. B. Harte, Flip, ii. It’s an even thing if she wouldn’t spot me the first pop [i.e., with a revolver].
