freckle
Americannoun
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one of the small, brownish spots on the skin that are caused by deposition of pigment and that increase in number and darken on exposure to sunlight; lentigo.
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any small spot or discoloration.
freckles of paint spattered on the floor.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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Technical name: lentigo. a small brownish spot on the skin: a localized deposit of the pigment melanin, developed by exposure to sunlight
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any small area of discoloration; a spot
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slang the anus
verb
Other Word Forms
- freckled adjective
- unfreckled adjective
- well-freckled adjective
Etymology
Origin of freckle
1350–1400; blend of obsolete frecken freckle ( Middle English frekne < Old Norse *frekna; compare freknōttr speckled, Norwegian, Icelandic frekna, Swedish fräkna freckle) and speckle (noun)
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.
I can feel the backs of my knees burn and I can see my otherwise monochrome shoulders freckle if I’m outside for a bit too long.
From Scientific American • Sep. 8, 2023
These Polynesian islands — a freckle, invisible on many maps — make up the world's fourth smallest nation, population around 12,000 and a land size of ten square miles.
From Salon • Dec. 3, 2022
Fragrant date palms, first grown by Arabs who arrived in the seventh century, freckle stretches of arable land hemmed in by sand dunes.
From New York Times • Nov. 17, 2022
Paris Tippett, 26, from Reading said she noticed a new freckle on her leg after prolonged sunbed use and was subsequently diagnosed with stage two melanoma.
From BBC • Jul. 3, 2022
Not that she could make out sea lions from this distance—the lone sailboat she could see wasn’t any bigger than her fingernail, so a sea lion would be like the size of a freckle.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
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.
