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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

fleck en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /flɛk/
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English *flekk, *flekke (attested in Middle English flekked (“spotted, flecked”)), from Old Norse flekkr (“spot”), from Proto-Germanic *flekka-. Cognate with Dutch vlek, German Fleck, Swedish fläck.

Meanings

  1. A flake.
    • two flecks of Lard cut with your knife 1675, William Rabisha, The Whole Body of Cookery Dissected, Taught and Fully:
  2. A lock, as of wool.
    • A single fleck of wool from his sock got caught on a splintery floorboard and that was enough to convict him. 2015, Graham Masterson, Eye for an Eye: A Katie Maguire Short Story:
    • With teeth they smooth their work, as on it slips, And flecks of wool stick to their wither'd lips 1861, Theodore Martin, The poems of Catullus, translated into English verse:
  3. A small spot or streak; a speckle.
    • So fret not, like an idle girl, / That life is dash'd with flecks of sin. / Abide: thy wealth is gathered in, / When Time hath sunder'd shell from pearl. 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto LI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 74:
  4. A small amount.
    • a fleck of hope
    • a fleck of imagination

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
flecks Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

flecky · befleck · snowfleck · fleckless · sunfleck · pith fleck

Synonyms

toddick · smidget · halfpennyworth · glimmer · drop · sliver · jot · iota · molecule · scrap · scintilla · tittle · continental · grain · hint · sprinkling · spark · morsel · atom · morceau · hoot · dot · strain · dash · tinge · aught · trace · skosh · diddly · mite · thought · ooch · particle · skoosh · tittle · crumb · ace · whiff · soupçon · bit · modicum · mote · smithereen · smidge · sprinkle · vestige · flyspeck · mote · scantling · trifle · inch · smitch · scent · dusting · tad · smattering · pennyworth · tuppence worth · touch · skerrick · piece · particle · hooter · damn · scruple · tidge · glimpse · semblance · dab · flip · spatter · glint · whit · scooch · smidgy · spot · smidgen · tidbit · lick · atomy · speck · speckle · bissel · ounce · pinch · fleck · shred · speck · relish

Translations (21)

ru пя́тнышко (small spot) · cs flíček (small spot) · bg петно (small spot) · cs flek (small spot) · sv fläck (small spot) · cs skvrnka (small spot) · fi pilkku (small spot) · es salpicadura (small spot) · no flekk (small spot) · es mota (small spot) · de Fleck (small spot) · fr tache (small spot) · nl spikkel (small spot) · ru пятно́ (small spot) · fi täplä (small spot) · bg точица (small spot) · ru кра́пинка (small spot) · pt pinta (small spot) · cs skvrna (small spot) · pt mancha (small spot) · it puntino (small spot)

fleck en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /flɛk/
  • (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English *flekk, *flekke (attested in Middle English flekked (“spotted, flecked”)), from Old Norse flekkr (“spot”), from Proto-Germanic *flekka-. Cognate with Dutch vlek, German Fleck, Swedish fläck.

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To mark (something) with small spots.
    • It was a perfect June day, with only a few light clouds flecking a pure blue sky. 1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 241:
    • The Names of the Moons of Mars is a frequently somber book, flecked through with optimism and humor. 1989 December 17, Nan Donald, “Broken Hearts, Messed Up Families, And New Beginnings”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 23, page 9:
    • So this was my future home, I thought![…]Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams. 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
flecking Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
flecked Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
flecked Tense=Past lexicographic
flecks Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Synonyms

fleak

Translations (8)

fi täplittää (to mark with small spots) · es jaspear (to mark with small spots) · pt manchar (to mark with small spots) · fr moucheter (to mark with small spots) · nl besprenkeln (to mark with small spots) · nl bespikkelen (to mark with small spots) · bg изпъстрям (to mark with small spots) · fr tacheter (to mark with small spots)