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definitions

spec

[spek]
See more synonyms for spec on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Usually specs. specification(def 2).
  2. speculation.
adjective
  1. built, done, bought, etc., as a speculation: the construction of spec houses.
verb (used with object), spec'd or specked or specced, spec'·ing or speck·ing or spec·cing.
  1. to provide specifications for: Their newest truck was spec'd by a computer.
Idioms
  1. on spec, made, built, or done with hopes of but no assurance of payment or a sale; without commitment by a client or buyer: ad illustrations done on spec; luxury homes built on spec and sold before completion.

Origin of spec

An Americanism dating back to 1785–95; by shortening
Related formsspec·’er, speck·er, noun

specs

[speks]
plural noun Informal.
  1. spectacles; eyeglasses.
  2. specifications.

Origin of specs

First recorded in 1800–10; by shortening

spec.

  1. special.
  2. specially.
  3. specifically.
  4. specification.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for spec

purchase, financing, transaction, finance, grant, money, loan, stake, property, expenditure, asset, venture, contribution, expense, blueprint, stipulation, spec, plunge, deal, undertaking

Examples from the Web for spec

Contemporary Examples of spec

Historical Examples of spec

  • "Spec she's taken dem dogs a walkin'," said black Deborah unconcernedly.

  • "Da-da-dat is, er—I spec' so—er—I dun'no', ma'm," he stammered.

  • I even added grimly that I knew only too well how that sort of spec.

  • Like Topsy one can but "'spec' it growed" rather than was created.

    Holbein

    Beatrice Fortescue

  • I 'spec' you must finish him up, and let's see what he wants of us.'

    Oldtown Fireside Stories

    Harriet Beecher Stowe

British Dictionary definitions for spec

spec

noun
  1. on spec as a speculation or gambleall the tickets were sold so I went to the theatre on spec
adjective
  1. (prenominal) Australian and NZ speculativea spec developer

Word Origin for spec

C19: short for speculation or speculative

spec.

abbreviation for
  1. specification
  2. speculation

specs

pl n informal
  1. short for spectacles
  2. short for specificationsSee specification
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
Word Origin and History for spec
n.

short for specification, 1956. Related: Specs.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with spec

spec

see on spec.

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