Noun

(en noun)

A round or irregular patch on the surface of a thing having a different color, texture etc. and generally round in shape.

The leopard is noted for the spots of color in its fur.

A stain or disfiguring mark.

I have tried everything, and I can’t get this spot out.

A pimple, papule or pustule.

That morning, I saw that a spot had come up on my chin.

I think she's got chicken pox; she's covered in spots .

A small, unspecified amount or quantity.

Would you like to come round on Sunday for a spot of lunch?

(slang, US) A bill of five-dollar or ten-dollar denomination in dollars.

Here's the twenty bucks I owe you, a ten spot''' and two five '''spots .

A location or area.

I like to eat lunch in a pleasant spot outside.

For our anniversary we went back to the same spot where we first met.

* Milton

That spot to which I point is Paradise.

* Wordsworth

"A jolly place," said he, "in times of old! / But something ails it now: the spot is cursed."

* 2011 , Tom Fordyce, Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/15210221.stm]

Yachvilli made it 6-0 with a second sweet strike from 45 metres after Matt Stevens was penalised for collapsing a scrum, and then slid another penalty just wide from the same spot .

A parking space.

*

(sports) An official determination of placement.

The fans were very unhappy with the referee's spot of the ball.

A bright lamp; a spotlight.

(US, advertising) A brief advertisement or program segment on television.

Did you see the spot on the news about the shoelace factory?

Difficult situation; predicament

She was in a real spot when she ran into her separated husband while on a date.

(gymnastics, dance, weightlifting) One who spots (supports or assists a maneuver, or is prepared to assist if safety dictates); a spotter

(soccer) penalty spot

* {{quote-news

, year=2011 , date=January 8 , author=Chris Bevan , title=Arsenal 1 - 1 Leeds , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=The Gunners dominated for long periods but, against the run of play, Denilson fouled Max Gradel and Robert Snodgrass put Leeds ahead from the spot . }}

The act of spotting or noticing something.

- You've misspelled "terrapin" here.

''- Whoops. Good spot .

A variety of the common domestic pigeon, so called from a spot on its head just above the beak.

A food fish (Liostomus xanthurus ) of the Atlantic coast of the United States, with a black spot behind the shoulders and fifteen oblique dark bars on the sides.

The southern redfish, or red horse, which has a spot on each side at the base of the tail.

(in the plural, brokers' slang, dated) Commodities, such as merchandise and cotton, sold for immediate delivery.

An autosoliton.

Noun

(en-noun)

A small spark or flash.

* 1890 , Philosophical Magazine , page 364,

If the action of the electrodynamic waves is so violent that, even without artificial electrification of the secondary conductor, scintillæ occur in its spark-gap, the aluminium leaves remain almost without change.

A small or trace amount.

* 1876 February, ,

And, if I except the sagacious remark of General Duane which has been so curtly brushed aside, not a scintilla of light has been cast upon these causes by any researches ever published by the Lighthouse Board of Washington.

* 1878 April, ,

Now, it may be we have no scintilla of proof to the contrary, but reason is unnecessary in reference to that belief which is of all the most settled, which nobody doubts or can doubt, and which he who should deny would stultify himself in so doing.

* 1990 , ,

Current medical practice recommends use of heroic measures if there is a scintilla of a chance that the patient will recover, on the assumption that the measures will be discontinued should the patient improve.