spot

1 a small area that is different (as in color) from the main part in summer the white coat of the snow leopard is studded with brownish black spots Synonyms blotch, dapple, dot, eyespot, fleck, mottle, patch, pip, point, speck, speckle, splotch Related Words birthmark, freckle, mole; blob, blot, mark, smear, smudge, smutch, stain; spatter, splash; polka dot

2 a difficult, puzzling, or embarrassing situation from which there is no easy escape we're in a bit of a spot right now with our mortgage payments Synonyms bind, box, catch-22, corner, dilemma, fix, hole, impasse, jackpot [chiefly West], jam, mire, pickle, quagmire, rabbit hole, rattrap, predicament, sticky wicket, swampRelated Words difficulty, node; hot water, soup; pinch, plight, quandary, scrape, trouble; deadlock, halt, logjam, stalemate, standstill; clutch, crisis, crossroad, emergency, exigency, juncture, strait

3 a mark of guilt or disgrace scandalous conduct that will forever be a spot upon the family name Synonyms blot, brand, onus, slur, smirch, smudge, stain, stigma, taintRelated Words black eye, discredit, disesteem, disgrace, dishonor, disrepute, guilt, ignominy, infamy, obloquy, odium, opprobrium, reproach, shame; corruption, debauchery, depravity, immorality, iniquity, licentiousness, sin, unscrupulousness, viceNear Antonyms award, credit, honor; chasteness, chastity, modesty, purity, stainlessness; good, right; honesty, integrity, legitimacy, probity, rectitude, scrupulousness, uprightness; goodness, righteousness, virtuousness; fame, glory, renown, repute

4 a very small amount had only a spot of stew for dinner, as he wasn't very hungry Synonyms ace, bit, crumb, dab, dram, driblet, glimmer, hint, lick, little, mite, nip, ounce, peanuts, ray, scintilla, scruple, shade, shadow, shred, skosh, smack, smell, smidgen (also smidgeon or smidgin or smidge), snap, soupçon, spark, spatter, speck, splash, particle, sprinkling, strain, streak, suspicion, tad, touch, traceRelated Words hoot, iota, jot, minim, minimum, modicum, semblance, syllable, tittle, vestige, whit; atom, dot, fleck, flyspeck, grain, granule, molecule, morsel, mote, nubbin, patch, scrap; dash, drop, pinch; part, portion, section; bite, nibble, taste; handful, scattering, smatter, smattering; dose, shot; chip, flake, fragment, shard, shiver, sliver, smithereens, splinter; shred, tatter; clipping, paring, shavingNear Antonyms abundance, barrel, boatload, bucket, bundle, bushel, deal, fistful, gobs, heaps, lashings (also lashins) [chiefly British], loads, lot, mass, mess, mountain, much, oodles, passel, peck, pile, plenty, potful, profusion, quantity, raft, reams, scads, stack, wad, wealth; volume; bonanza, embarrassment, excess, overabundance, overage, overflow, overkill, overmuch, oversupply, superabundance, superfluity, surfeit, surplus; chunk, hunk, lump, slab

5 the area or space occupied by or intended for something the cat grabbed my spot on the couch the minute I stood up Synonyms emplacement, locale, locality, location, locus, point, position, site, place, venue, whereRelated Words scene; precinct, region, section, sector; here, there