"on spec" meaning in English

See on spec in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Etymology: Abbreviation of on speculation. Etymology templates: {{m|en||on speculation}} on speculation Head templates: {{en-adv|-}} on spec (not comparable)
  1. In hope of success, using one's best guess Tags: not-comparable
    Sense id: en-on_spec-en-adv-1PVXvF6i
  2. (colloquial, business, of creating a work) With the hope of selling it, as opposed to on commission (for hire). Tags: colloquial, not-comparable Categories (topical): Business Related terms: spec script
    Sense id: en-on_spec-en-adv-kBKU1nSG Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 9 91 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 16 84 Disambiguation of English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys: 16 84 Topics: business

Download JSON data for on spec meaning in English (2.5kB)

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        "1": "en",
        "2": "",
        "3": "on speculation"
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      "expansion": "on speculation",
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  "etymology_text": "Abbreviation of on speculation.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "expansion": "on spec (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adv"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1889, Banjo Paterson, Clancy of the Overflow",
          "text": "I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better\nKnowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,\nHe was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,\nJust on spec, addressed as follows, “Clancy, of The Overflow”.",
          "type": "quotation"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In hope of success, using one's best guess"
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      "id": "en-on_spec-en-adv-1PVXvF6i",
      "tags": [
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    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Business",
          "orig": "en:Business",
          "parents": [
            "Economics",
            "Society",
            "Social sciences",
            "All topics",
            "Sciences",
            "Fundamental"
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          "source": "w"
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        {
          "_dis": "9 91",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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            "Entry maintenance"
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I'm writing an article on spec. I hope some magazine will buy it."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1955 October, Rex Stout, “The Next Witness”, in Three Witnesses, Bantam, published 1994, page 36",
          "text": "\"Why doubt his guilt?\"\nWolfe's shoulders went up a fraction of an inch, and down again. \"Divination. Contrariety.\"\n\"I see.\" Unger pursed his midget mouth, which didn't need pursing. \"You're shooting at it on spec.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "With the hope of selling it, as opposed to on commission (for hire)."
      ],
      "id": "en-on_spec-en-adv-kBKU1nSG",
      "links": [
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          "business"
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(colloquial, business, of creating a work) With the hope of selling it, as opposed to on commission (for hire)."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of creating a work"
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "_dis1": "23 77",
          "word": "spec script"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "business"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "on spec"
}
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    "English lemmas",
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    "English uncomparable adverbs"
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  "head_templates": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "spec script"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1889, Banjo Paterson, Clancy of the Overflow",
          "text": "I had written him a letter which I had, for want of better\nKnowledge, sent to where I met him down the Lachlan, years ago,\nHe was shearing when I knew him, so I sent the letter to him,\nJust on spec, addressed as follows, “Clancy, of The Overflow”.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "In hope of success, using one's best guess"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
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        "English terms with quotations",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "I'm writing an article on spec. I hope some magazine will buy it."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1955 October, Rex Stout, “The Next Witness”, in Three Witnesses, Bantam, published 1994, page 36",
          "text": "\"Why doubt his guilt?\"\nWolfe's shoulders went up a fraction of an inch, and down again. \"Divination. Contrariety.\"\n\"I see.\" Unger pursed his midget mouth, which didn't need pursing. \"You're shooting at it on spec.\"",
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      "glosses": [
        "With the hope of selling it, as opposed to on commission (for hire)."
      ],
      "links": [
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        "(colloquial, business, of creating a work) With the hope of selling it, as opposed to on commission (for hire)."
      ],
      "raw_tags": [
        "of creating a work"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "colloquial",
        "not-comparable"
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        "business"
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  ],
  "word": "on spec"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 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.