speck

speck
    n 1: a very small spot; "the plane was just a speck in the sky"
         [syn: {speck}, {pinpoint}]
    2: (nontechnical usage) a tiny piece of anything [syn: {atom},
       {molecule}, {particle}, {corpuscle}, {mote}, {speck}]
    3: a slight but appreciable amount; "this dish could use a touch
       of garlic" [syn: {touch}, {hint}, {tinge}, {mite}, {pinch},
       {jot}, {speck}, {soupcon}]
    v 1: produce specks in or on; "speck the cloth"
    

Speck \Speck\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Specked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Specking}.]
   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.
                                                  --Milton.
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Speck \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.
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Speck \Speck\, n. [OE. spekke, AS. specca; cf. LG. spaak.]
   1. 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. "Gray sand, with
      black specks." --Anson.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A very small thing; a particle; a mite; as, specks of
      dust; he has not a speck of money.
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            Many bright specks bubble up along the blue Egean.
                                                  --Landor.
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   3. (Zool.) A small etheostomoid fish ({Ulocentra stigmaea})
      common in the Eastern United States.
      [1913 Webster]
    

225 Moby Thesaurus words for "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