dapple

/ˈdæpəl/

Other forms: dappled; dappling; dapples

To dapple is to dot with blotches of color or light, the way sunlight dapples the leaves of trees in the summertime.

You can use dapple as a verb or a noun: "I saw a dapple of yellow paint on the floor after I finished painting my bedroom wall." Writers often describe the way sunshine and moonlight dapple things, forming irregular spots and patches. Sometimes animal fur or skin is described as dappled, or a color such as dapple-gray, an adjective which—strangely enough—was originally apple-gray.

Definitions of dapple

1. noun

   a small contrasting part of something
   synonyms: fleck, maculation, patch, speckle, spot

   types:

   pinpoint, speck

   a very small spot

   nebula

   (pathology) a faint cloudy spot on the cornea

   splash

   a patch of bright color

   fret, worn spot

   a spot that has been worn away by abrasion or erosion

   plaque

   (pathology) a small abnormal patch on or inside the body

   macula, macule

   a patch of skin that is discolored but not usually elevated; caused by various diseases

   mock sun, parhelion, sundog

   a bright spot on the parhelic circle; caused by diffraction by ice crystals

   macula, sunspot

   a cooler darker spot appearing periodically on the sun's photosphere; associated with a strong magnetic field

   facula

   a large bright spot on the sun's photosphere occurring most frequently in the vicinity of sunspots

   facula

   a bright spot on a planet

   amyloid plaque, amyloid protein plaque

   a plaque consisting of tangles of amyloid protein in nervous tissue (a pathological mark of Alzheimer's disease)

   arterial plaque

   a fatty deposit inside an arterial wall; characteristic of atherosclerosis

   bacterial plaque, dental plaque

   a film of mucus and bacteria deposited on the teeth that encourages the development of dental caries

   freckle, lentigo

   a small brownish spot (of the pigment melanin) on the skin

   liver spot

   a type of skin disease that causes brown spots on the skin

   plague spot

   a spot on the skin characteristic of the plague

   type of:

   marking

   a pattern of marks
2. verb

   color with streaks or blotches of different shades
   synonyms: cloud, mottle

   types:

   harlequin

   variegate with spots or marks

   speckle, stipple

   produce a mottled effect

   type of:

   spot

   mark with a spot or spots so as to allow easy recognition