speckle

American  

[spek-uhl] / ˈspɛk əl /

noun

1. a small speck, spot, or mark, as on skin.

2. speckled coloring or marking.

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verb (used with object)

speckled, speckling

1. to mark with or as with speckles.

speckle British  

/ ˈspɛkəl /

noun

1. a small or slight mark usually of a contrasting colour, as on the skin, a bird's plumage, or eggs

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verb

1. (tr) to mark with or as if with speckles

Other Word Forms

• speckled adjective
• speckledness noun
• unspeckled adjective

Etymology

Origin of speckle

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; speck, -le

Example Sentences

The signature speckled edges and thumb indexes are preserved, helping to make the volume self-consciously display-friendly.

From The Wall Street Journal

Fighting it in the Pacific would involve a vast, watery battlespace speckled with jungle-swathed island chains—all within reach of those missiles.

From The Wall Street Journal

One of Mr. Joseph’s interviewees remembers Sondheim pinning an oatmeal-raisin cookie to a speckled piece of pine paneling.

From The Wall Street Journal

The watery funnel looks speckled with stars, like a portal to a deep, dark place.

From Literature

The towns speckling the Columbia River basin have long ridden the ebbs and flows of far-off markets: volatile crop prices, changes in the livestock trade, pressure on the lumber industry.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• mottle