Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

spec

[spek]
See more synonyms for spec on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Usually specs. specification(def 2).
  2. speculation.
Show More
adjective
  1. built, done, bought, etc., as a speculation: the construction of spec houses.
Show More
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.
Show More
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.
Show More

Origin of spec

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

speck

[spek]
noun
  1. a small spot differing in color or substance from that of the surface or material upon which it appears or lies: Specks of soot on the window sill.
  2. a very little bit or particle: We haven't a speck of sugar.
  3. something appearing small by comparison or by reason of distance: By then the town was just a speck.
Show More
verb (used with object)
  1. to mark with, or as with, a speck or specks.
Show More

Origin of speck

before 900; Middle English specke, Old English specca; cognate with Dutch spikkel
Related formsspeck·ed·ness [spek-id-nis] /ˈspɛk ɪd nɪs/, nounspeck·less, adjectivespeck·less·ly, adverbspeck·less·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for specking

Historical Examples

  • We have twenty-one of them up, specking the sky as clearly as a bacteriologist's slide is specked with microbes.

    Letters from France

    C. E. W. Bean

British Dictionary definitions for specking

spec

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

Word Origin

C19: short for speculation or speculative

speck

noun
  1. a very small mark or spot
  2. a small or tiny piece of something
Show More
verb
  1. (tr) to mark with specks or spots
Show More

Word Origin

Old English specca; related to Middle Dutch spekelen to sprinkle
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 specking

speck

n.

Old English specca "small spot, stain," of unknown origin; probably related to Dutch speckel "speck, speckle," Middle Dutch spekelen "to sprinkle." Meaning "tiny bit" developed c.1400.

Show More

spec

n.

short for specification, 1956. Related: Specs.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with specking

spec

see on spec.

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