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Speck vs Blemish - What's the difference?

speck | blemish | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between speck and blemish

is that speck is a tiny spot, especially of dirt etc while blemish is a small flaw which spoils the appearance of something, a stain, a spot.

As verbs the difference between speck and blemish

is that speck is to mark with specks; to speckle while blemish is to spoil the appearance of.

speck

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) .

Noun

(en noun)
  • (countable) A tiny spot, especially of dirt etc.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Out of the gloom , passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.}}
  • (uncountable) A juniper-flavoured ham originally from Tyrol.
  • A very small thing; a particle; a whit.
  • * (Walter Savage Landor), quoted in 1971, Ernest Dilworth, Walter Savage Landor , Twayne Publishers, page 88,
    • Onward, and many bright specks bubble up along the blue Aegean; islands, every one of which, if the songs and stories of the pilots are true, is the monument of a greater man than I am.
  • A small etheostomoid fish, , common in the eastern United States.
    • Synonyms
    * (small thing) See also .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To mark with specks; to speckle.
    • paper specked by impurities in the water used in its manufacture
  • * 1667 , '', 1991, Stephen Orgel, ?Jonathan Goldberg (editors), ''The Major Works , 2003, paperback, page 534,
    • Each flower of slender stalk, whose head though gay / Carnation, purple, azure, or specked with gold, / Hung drooping unsustained,

    Etymology 2

    Noun

    (-)
  • The blubber of whales or other marine mammals.
  • The fat of the hippopotamus.

    • Anagrams

    *

    blemish

    English

    Noun

    (es)
  • A small flaw which spoils the appearance of something, a stain, a spot.
  • * 1769 , Oxford Standard Text, , 22, xix,
    • Ye shall offer at your own will a male without blemish , of the beeves, of the sheep, or of the goats.
  • * 1997 , Jean Soler, 5: The Semiotics of Food in the Bible'', Carole Counihan, Penny Van Esterik (editors), ''Food and Culture: A Reader , page 61,
    • Any foot shape deviating from this model is conceived as a blemish , and the animal is unclean.
  • * 2003 , A. K. Forrest, Chapter 6: Surface Defect Detection on Ceramics'', Mark Graves, Bruce Batchelor (editors), ''Machine Vision for the Inspection of Natural Products , page 193,
    • There are a very large number of types of blemish' and the smallest ' blemish visible to a human can be surprisingly small, for example less than 10?m deep, which may be on the surface of a heavily embossed tile.
  • * 2011 , Robert Jones, Makeup Makeovers Beauty Bible: Expert Secrets for Stunning Transformations , page 119,
    • It comes as a surprise to some people, but blemishes' can strike at any age. To minimize the appearance of facial '''blemishes''' or pimples, use a concealer with a dry texture; it will cling to the ' blemish better, last throughout the day, and not irritate the skin or initiate more breakouts.
  • A moral defect; a character flaw.
  • * 1825 , A Sermon'', ''The Christian Magazine , Volume 2, page 298,
    • As piety is the peculiar ornament of old people, so the want of it is a peculiar blemish in their character.
  • * 2003 , Todd F. Heatherton, The Social Psychology of Stigma , page 103,
    • The processes of categorization, stereotyping, discrimination, and self-fulfilling prophecy can also apply to stigmas based on blemishes of individual character.
  • * 2008 , Annette Baier, Death and Character: Further Reflections on Hume , page 46,
    • There is no reason to think that the enlivening possible blemish' was his hypocritical show of repentance, since there are so many other candidate ' blemishes to choose among.

    Related terms

    * blemished (adjective) * blemishless * blemishment

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Verb

    (es)
  • To spoil the appearance of.
  • *, II.12:
  • *:we see ordinarie examples by this licence which wonderfully blemisheth the authoritie and lustre of our law, never to stay upon one sentence, but to run from one to another judge, to decide one same case.
  • * 2009 , Michael A. Kirkman, Chapter 2: Global Markets fo Processed Potato Products'', Jaspreet Singh, Lovedeep Kaur (editors), ''Advances in Potato Chemistry and Technology , page 40,
    • Generally, varieties in current use for processing are resilient, if not wholly resistant to blemishing diseases and disorders.
  • * 2011 , Rob Imrie, Emma Street, Architectural Design and Regulation , unnumbered page,
    • I mean it reaches a point of ridiculousness in some regards, and one?s seen actually many good schemes here in San Francisco, for example, that have been blemished by an overly strict adherence to codes.
  • To tarnish (reputation, character, etc.); to defame.
  • * Oldys
    • There had nothing passed between us that might blemish reputation.