Mottle
['mɒt(ə)l] or ['mɑtl]
Definition
(noun.) an irregular arrangement of patches of color; 'it was not dull grey as distance had suggested, but a mottle of khaki and black and olive-green'.
(verb.) colour with streaks or blotches of different shades.
(verb.) mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained.
Edited by Leopold--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To mark with spots of different color, or shades of color, as if stained; to spot; to maculate.
(n.) A mottled appearance.
Checker: Tina
Definition
v.t. to mark with spots as if stained.—n. the arrangement of spots on any mottled surface in marble &c.—adjs. Mott′led marked with spots of various colours or shades; Mott′le-faced.—n. Mott′ling.
Editor: Maggie
Examples
- The letter which had been the messenger of death for Milverton lay, all mottled with his blood, upon the table. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Round one of his hands he had a handkerchief wrapped, which was mottled all over with bloodstains. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The back of his ware is never all the same color, but usually mottled with several colors, often yellow, blue, and brown. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- I maintain that that 'ere song's personal to the cloth,' said the mottled-faced gentleman, interrupting it at this point. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- A child would know Silver Blaze, with his white forehead and his mottled off-foreleg. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes.
- That's very extraordinary,' said the mottled-faced man. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- In one instant, the mottled-faced gentleman depressed his hand again, and every glass was set down empty. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
Edited by Kitty