fleck

/flɛk/

Other forms: flecked; flecks; flecking

A fleck is a small patch that is different and stands out from the background, like the flecks of green in your blue eyes. A fleck can also be a fragment of something, like the flecks of peeling paint you might see on the floor in an old building.

The noun fleck can describe a color or a spot of light that stands out, like a fleck of orange in a brown and white plaid, or the little bits of light reflected off a sequined top. It can also describe a particle, such as a fleck of dirt you track into your house on your shoe. Fleck can also be a verb that means dotting or marking something with little spots, like when you fleck paint on the wall to produce a random dotted effect.

Definitions of fleck

1. noun

   a small contrasting part of something
   “a fleck of red”

   synonyms: dapple, 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

   make a spot or mark onto
   synonyms: blob, blot, spot

   stain

   produce or leave stains

   types:

   splotch

   blotch or spot

   defile, maculate, stain, sully, tarnish

   make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically

   bespeckle, speckle

   mark with small spots

   bespatter, spatter

   spot, splash, or soil

   darken

   tarnish or stain

   type of:

   change surface

   undergo or cause to undergo a change in the surface
3. noun

   a small fragment of something broken off from the whole
   synonyms: bit, chip, flake, scrap

   types:

   matchwood

   fragments of wood

   exfoliation, scale, scurf

   a thin flake of dead epidermis shed from the surface of the skin

   scurf

   (botany) a covering that resembles scales or bran that covers some plant parts

   sliver, splinter

   a small thin sharp bit of wood or glass or metal

   dander

   small scales from animal skins or hair or bird feathers that can cause allergic reactions in some people

   dandruff

   loose scales shed from the scalp

   type of:

   fragment

   a piece broken off or cut off of something else