English Explanatory Dictionary

speck

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A tiny spot or particle, especially of dirt.
  2. A very small amount; a particle; a whit.
  3. A small etheostomoid fish, Etheostoma stigmaeum, common in the eastern United States.
verb
  1. To mark with specks; to speckle.
noun
  1. Fat; lard; fat meat.
  2. A juniper-flavoured ham originally from Tyrol.
  3. The blubber of whales or other marine mammals.
  4. The fat of the hippopotamus.
name
  1. A surname from German.

Pronunciation

/spɛk/ en-us-speck.ogg

Word forms

speck specks specking specked

Etymology

From Middle English spekke, from Old English specca (“small spot, stain”), from the same ultimate source as Proto-Germanic *sprakô (“spark”). Cognate with Low German spaken (“to spot with wet”).

Synonyms

ace atom atomy aught bissel bit crumb glimpse dab damn dash diddly glint dot spatter drop dusting fleck glimmer hint flip flyspeck grain halfpennyworth inch iota jot lick mite modicum molecule morceau morsel mote ooch ounce particle pennyworth piece pinch relish scantling semblance scent scintilla scooch scrap scruple shred skerrick skoosh skosh sliver smattering smidge smidgen smidget smidgy smitch smithereen

Derived words

flyspeck speckless specklike specky
This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.
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