"flyspeck" meaning in English

See flyspeck in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav [US] Forms: flyspecks [plural], flyspeck [plural]
Etymology: fly + speck Etymology templates: {{compound|en|fly|speck}} fly + speck Head templates: {{en-noun|s|flyspeck}} flyspeck (plural flyspecks or flyspeck)
  1. Housefly excrement, visible as a minuscule black dot.
    Sense id: en-flyspeck-en-noun-BxTTrlmE
  2. (by extension) Anything tiny or insignificant. Tags: broadly
    Sense id: en-flyspeck-en-noun-uf-mGtfs
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: sooty blotch and flyspeck Related terms: flyblow

Verb

Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav [US] Forms: flyspecks [present, singular, third-person], flyspecking [participle, present], flyspecked [participle, past], flyspecked [past]
Etymology: fly + speck Etymology templates: {{compound|en|fly|speck}} fly + speck Head templates: {{en-verb}} flyspeck (third-person singular simple present flyspecks, present participle flyspecking, simple past and past participle flyspecked)
  1. To bespeckle with tiny spatters of color.
    Sense id: en-flyspeck-en-verb-KgeervsZ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 27 2 41 30
  2. To inspect in minute detail to ensure that something contains no flaws; nitpick.
    Sense id: en-flyspeck-en-verb-foxIz8Q3

Inflected forms

Download JSON data for flyspeck meaning in English (4.3kB)

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "sooty blotch and flyspeck"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fly",
        "3": "speck"
      },
      "expansion": "fly + speck",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "fly + speck",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "flyspecks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flyspeck",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s",
        "2": "flyspeck"
      },
      "expansion": "flyspeck (plural flyspecks or flyspeck)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "flyblow"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The wall of the kitchen above the fruitbowl was dotted with flyspeck.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Housefly excrement, visible as a minuscule black dot."
      ],
      "id": "en-flyspeck-en-noun-BxTTrlmE",
      "links": [
        [
          "Housefly",
          "housefly"
        ],
        [
          "excrement",
          "excrement"
        ],
        [
          "dot",
          "dot"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "From the foothills below, Jean, Jan, and James were mere flyspecks, easily lost among the straggly pines that formed the treeline.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "We passed through some flyspeck town, barely more than a gas station and a stoplight, but I never saw the name.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Anything tiny or insignificant."
      ],
      "id": "en-flyspeck-en-noun-uf-mGtfs",
      "links": [
        [
          "tiny",
          "tiny"
        ],
        [
          "insignificant",
          "insignificant"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) Anything tiny or insignificant."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "flyspeck"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fly",
        "3": "speck"
      },
      "expansion": "fly + speck",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "fly + speck",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "flyspecks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flyspecking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flyspecked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flyspecked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "flyspeck (third-person singular simple present flyspecks, present participle flyspecking, simple past and past participle flyspecked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "27 2 41 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008, Priscilla Hauser, Priscilla Hauser's Book of Painting Patterns, page 15",
          "text": "To flyspeck, you need an old toothbrush, the paint color of your choice, glazing medium, a palette knife, and a mixing surface such as a palette or plastic container.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To bespeckle with tiny spatters of color."
      ],
      "id": "en-flyspeck-en-verb-KgeervsZ",
      "links": [
        [
          "bespeckle",
          "bespeckle"
        ],
        [
          "spatter",
          "spatter"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1996, Richard Delgado, The Rodrigo Chronicles: Conversations About America and Race",
          "text": "Your criticism will seem like flyspecking. They'll be mad at you for pointing out that there's more crime than they like to think, and especially mad that you're saying their own group—privileged middle-aged white males—are just as bad as young African-American inner-city toughs, walking the streets in packs of four and looking mean.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To inspect in minute detail to ensure that something contains no flaws; nitpick."
      ],
      "id": "en-flyspeck-en-verb-foxIz8Q3",
      "links": [
        [
          "inspect",
          "inspect"
        ],
        [
          "minute",
          "minute"
        ],
        [
          "nitpick",
          "nitpick"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "flyspeck"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English indeclinable nouns",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "sooty blotch and flyspeck"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fly",
        "3": "speck"
      },
      "expansion": "fly + speck",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "fly + speck",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "flyspecks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flyspeck",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "s",
        "2": "flyspeck"
      },
      "expansion": "flyspeck (plural flyspecks or flyspeck)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "flyblow"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The wall of the kitchen above the fruitbowl was dotted with flyspeck.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Housefly excrement, visible as a minuscule black dot."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Housefly",
          "housefly"
        ],
        [
          "excrement",
          "excrement"
        ],
        [
          "dot",
          "dot"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "From the foothills below, Jean, Jan, and James were mere flyspecks, easily lost among the straggly pines that formed the treeline.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "text": "We passed through some flyspeck town, barely more than a gas station and a stoplight, but I never saw the name.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Anything tiny or insignificant."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "tiny",
          "tiny"
        ],
        [
          "insignificant",
          "insignificant"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(by extension) Anything tiny or insignificant."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "broadly"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "flyspeck"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English indeclinable nouns",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English verbs"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fly",
        "3": "speck"
      },
      "expansion": "fly + speck",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "fly + speck",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "flyspecks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flyspecking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flyspecked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "flyspecked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "flyspeck (third-person singular simple present flyspecks, present participle flyspecking, simple past and past participle flyspecked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2008, Priscilla Hauser, Priscilla Hauser's Book of Painting Patterns, page 15",
          "text": "To flyspeck, you need an old toothbrush, the paint color of your choice, glazing medium, a palette knife, and a mixing surface such as a palette or plastic container.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To bespeckle with tiny spatters of color."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "bespeckle",
          "bespeckle"
        ],
        [
          "spatter",
          "spatter"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1996, Richard Delgado, The Rodrigo Chronicles: Conversations About America and Race",
          "text": "Your criticism will seem like flyspecking. They'll be mad at you for pointing out that there's more crime than they like to think, and especially mad that you're saying their own group—privileged middle-aged white males—are just as bad as young African-American inner-city toughs, walking the streets in packs of four and looking mean.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To inspect in minute detail to ensure that something contains no flaws; nitpick."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "inspect",
          "inspect"
        ],
        [
          "minute",
          "minute"
        ],
        [
          "nitpick",
          "nitpick"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b7/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Wodencafe-flyspeck.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "flyspeck"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-30 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (210104c and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.