as in specks
a very small piece
there's not a mote of dirt in that woman's house
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Recent Examples of motes
Sunbeams through the windows illuminate floating dust motes—and, imperceptibly, microdroplets of mucus carrying the measles virus, expelled from an infected but asymptomatic child who is hopping and laughing among the others.
—
Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026
Easily swept up by wind and carried long distances by water, these tiny motes are also exceedingly difficult to detect and almost impossible to remove from the environment.
—K. R. Callaway, Scientific American, 22 Jan. 2026
There’s a Gambit-adjacent one that has players depositing motes while killing other teams.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
The sensors’ small size allows seamless integration into almost any environment, while the wireless, modular design lets motes be added or removed as needed depending on the application.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2025
Powering and recording signals from multiple motes will require new techniques and better signal processing.
—Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, 21 Oct. 2016
Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026
Easily swept up by wind and carried long distances by water, these tiny motes are also exceedingly difficult to detect and almost impossible to remove from the environment.
—K. R. Callaway, Scientific American, 22 Jan. 2026
There’s a Gambit-adjacent one that has players depositing motes while killing other teams.
—Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025
The sensors’ small size allows seamless integration into almost any environment, while the wireless, modular design lets motes be added or removed as needed depending on the application.
—Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 6 Aug. 2025
Powering and recording signals from multiple motes will require new techniques and better signal processing.
—Eliza Strickland, IEEE Spectrum, 21 Oct. 2016
Recent Examples of Synonyms for motes
Noun
-
The specks of light are small bombs, each carrying up to 11 pounds of explosives, which are released at high altitude from the head of the missile before raining down indiscriminately over a wide area.—
Jeremy Diamond,
CNN Money,
12 Mar. 2026
-
These generally appear as white bumps or specks that encrust the stems, branches, and undersides of leaves and suck the sap.—
Steve Bender,
Southern Living,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The perhaps ironic primary cause is regulations on international shipping reducing pollutant particles, which reflected sunlight into space.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Some of the dust particles reached the ground as rain and coated the surface with a brown colored residue.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
12 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Using x-ray fluorescence spectrometry, scholars determined that the ancient off-white fluid was composed of calcite, huntite, and miniscule flecks of yellow orpiment, a highly toxic sulfide of arsenic that Egyptians also used in medicine to treat syphilis and malaria.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
9 Mar. 2026
-
Jade feels calming yet luxurious, especially when paired with flecks of gold leaf.—
Ariel Wodarcyk,
InStyle,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
These brief bits find themselves among the fine art works curated from 32 of the hundreds of painters, sculptors, illustrators and photographers who have traveled to Ossabaw Island over the past 65 years.—
Amy Paige Condon,
AJC.com,
12 Mar. 2026
-
To be more sensitive to modern audiences, O’Brien said that Howl’s revival would take fewer song requests while softening the onstage comedy bits, adding that its modern music and food menu of wings and flatbreads would also drive the bar’s success.—
Phillip Valys,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
With vegetarian options and accommodations for food allergies, parents can ensure their children are safe and receiving healthy meals aligned with nutritional guidelines, featuring fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins.—
William Jones
March 16,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
16 Mar. 2026
-
Kefir grains are a combination of bacteria and yeast.—
Amber J. Tresca,
Verywell Health,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
At the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, visitors can find large patches of California poppies, goldfields and other wildflowers, according to state park interpreter Lori Wear.—
Cierra Morgan,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Even the town’s marshal and fire crews have comic-book-style dinosaur drawings on their patches.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
This means that even if a fault-tolerant quantum computer becomes available, QPE could still struggle with large molecules because the chance of successfully extracting the correct energy becomes vanishingly small.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Mar. 2026
-
In rodent experiments, both molecules promote dendritic growth in the prefrontal cortex.—
Clayton Dalton,
New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Avoid placing meat scraps or sweet foods such as fruit and fruit peels in compost piles.—
Stephen Underwood,
Hartford Courant,
11 Mar. 2026
-
The trash may be full of sticky residues, sweet liquids, and food scraps that wasps like.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
11 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Motes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/motes. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.
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