on spec

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Done on a speculative basis; with no assurance of profit. For example, We didn't design our house; the builder built it on spec. The use of spec as an abbreviation for speculation dates from the late 1700s.

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Words nearby on spec

on someone's back, on someone's coattails, on someone's nerves, on someone's side, on speaking terms, on spec, onstage, on standby, on-stream, on strike, on sufferance

How to use on spec in a sentence

Just the hard-on before you shoot unarmed members of the public.
'Babylon' Review: The Dumb Lives of Trigger-Happy Cops|Melissa Leon|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Three on-the-record stories from a family: a mother and her daughters who came from Phoenix.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003|Vicky Ward|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
You just travel light with carry-on luggage, go to cities that you love, and get to hang out with all your friends.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
It was a brick wall that we turned into the on-ramp of a highway.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Could the (thus far) timid trembling give way to a full-on, grand mal seizure?
26 Earthquakes Later, Fracking’s Smoking Gun Is in Texas|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I drew back from the rim of Writing-On-the-Stone, that set of whispered phrases echoing in my ears.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair
Kingston-on-Thames is still provincial in appearance, though now the centre of a great growth of modern suburbs.
The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries|Charles G. Harper
Besides the districts mentioned, tobacco is grown largely in that of Frankfort-on-the Oder.
Tobacco; Its History, Varieties, Culture, Manufacture and Commerce|E. R. Billings.
Madame Malmaison had always been a little proud of the beauty and grace and sweetness of her fitter-on.
The Weight of the Crown|Fred M. White
Berwick-on-Tweed lies partly in England and partly in Scotland, the river which runs through it forming the boundary line.
British Highways And Byways From A Motor Car|Thomas D. Murphy