as in blotch
a small area that is different (as in color) from the main part a tie having eyespots of blue on a light gray background

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of eyespot The team observed laser emissions in two distinct wavelengths for all color regions of the feathers' eyespots, with the green color regions emitting the most intense laser light. Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 30 July 2025 The great argus is an at-risk species with an elaborate pattern of eyespots on its tail feathers, according to Thai National Parks. Aspen Pflughoeft, Miami Herald, 14 May 2025 Peacock butterflies are distinguished by a series of striking eyespots on their wings, which serve to threaten or confuse potential predators. Michael Franco, New Atlas, 21 Sep. 2024 But why did some lineages evolve shell eyes rather than eyespots? Quanta Magazine, 29 Feb. 2024 First, red eyespots appear; then the amorphous bodies coalesce and darken into their ferocious adult forms. Nala Rogers, Popular Mechanics, 9 Aug. 2023 Their long hindwing tails and eyespots combine to give them a look resembling an elephant’s face. Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 18 July 2023 The 30-centimeter-long adult grows out of a larva that is little more than a sesame seed–size blob with an eyespot at one end and a band of cilia around its body. Byelizabeth Pennisi, science.org, 17 Jan. 2023 First, Rowland and her co-author trained chicks to attack a mealworm hidden behind a paper printout of two eyespots at the end of a runway. Maddie Bender, Scientific American, 1 Jan. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for eyespot
Noun
  • Gopher snakes tend to be tan-colored with large square brown blotches or saddles along their backs and smaller gray spots on their sides.
    Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 28 Aug. 2025
  • The baby was purple-gray-colored, in blotches; wet, smeared in blood and what looked like whitish wax.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 29 July 2025
Noun
  • Ariana Grande Makes a Last-Minute Entrance Ariana Grande — who was channeling Audrey Hepburn in a black custom Fendi dress covered in white polka-dots — arrived moments before the MTV VMAs started airing live.
    Stacy Lambe, PEOPLE, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Others say the dot of dark red grease that floats on top of a bowl of this gravy resembles an eye, a bit like a swirling hurricane eye.
    Sheri Castle, Southern Living, 7 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The cold gave us the sense of being a tiny little speck in this big city, and then of going through a door into a warm space with twelve other musicians.
    Emma Madden, Pitchfork, 4 Sep. 2025
  • The waterfront spread near the northern Indiana town of Culver is listed for a speck under $20 million with Andrea Kelly of Encore Sotheby’s International Realty.
    Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 3 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Say goodbye to bare patches and thin grass.
    Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 8 Sep. 2025
  • Based on the 2023 video game, an unnamed protagonist (Kazunari Ninomiya) gets trapped in an endlessly repeating patch of a subway station hallway, only able to get closer to an exit by identifying bizarre and incongruent aberrations in his environment.
    William Earl, Variety, 8 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Its black and white or brown flecks convey a fresh, modern feel that's ideal for breaking away from the tyranny of basics.
    María Munsuri, Glamour, 24 Aug. 2025
  • Although other pests cause similar damage, thrips damage is often associate with numerous small flecks of dark green to black fecal matter.
    Arricca Elin SanSone, Southern Living, 5 Aug. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Eyespot.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/eyespot. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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