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Showing results for flyspeck. Search instead for flyspecking.
Synonyms

flyspeck

American  
[flahy-spek] / ˈflaɪˌspɛk /

noun

  1. a speck or tiny stain from the excrement of a fly.

  2. any minute spot.

  3. Plant Pathology. a disease of pome fruits, characterized by small, raised, dark spots on the fruit, caused by a fungus, Leptothyrium pomi.

verb (used with object)

  1. to mark with flyspecks.

flyspeck British  
/ ˈflaɪˌspɛk /

noun

  1. the small speck of the excrement of a fly

  2. a small spot or speck

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. (tr) to mark with flyspecks

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of flyspeck

First recorded in 1850–55; fly 1 + speck

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The 17-year-old best friends are neighbors in a flyspeck California town in the Mojave Desert.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 23, 2026

More procedural requirements mean more chances for a judge to flyspeck some aspect of rulemaking.

From Slate • Jan. 10, 2023

The level of funding required would be a flyspeck in the military budget, not an endless boondoggle.

From Washington Times • Apr. 9, 2018

He plucked some old postcards from the rack to illustrate Adrian’s arc from robust railroad town to drive-by flyspeck.

From Washington Post • Sep. 8, 2016

The Battle of Waterloo is a flyspeck in importance contrasted with the problem of future existence; but the man who never heard of Napoleon would make a dull companion in this world or the next.

From The "Goldfish" by Train, Arthur Cheney

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.