bespot
(bɪˈspɒt)
[ME., f. be- 1 + spot v.]
trans. To cover or mark over the surface with spots; to cover with blots or blemishes. Hence beˈspotted ppl. a., beˈspottedness n., beˈspotting vbl. n.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. iii. iv. 73 Whan þei byspotten and defoulen dignites wiþ hire vylenie. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour A vij, The vessel of siluer whiche was foully bespottyd of the donghylle. 1532 More Confut. Barnes viii. Wks. 802/2 Theyr continuall newe byspottyng and wrinclyng. 1622 Heylin Cosmogr. ii. (1682) 213 Marble curiously bespotted. 1684 Charnock Attrib. God. I. 331 It soils our duties, and bespots our souls. 1720 Rowe Amb. Step-Mother v. i. 78 Com'st thou bespotted with the recent slaughter? 1814 Wordsw. Excurs. vii. 788 The Danube..like a serpent, shows his glittering back Bespotted—with innumerable isles. a 1882 R. Christison Autobiog. I. xviii. 349 The degree of the Sun's bespottedness. |