<B>sportswriter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a journalist who writes about sports. </DL>
<A NAME="sportswriting">
<B>sportswriting, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the occupation or work of writing about sports. <BR> <I>Ex. He dissects the drama ... with a racy enthusiasm that is nowadays more likely to be found in sportswriting (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="sporty">
<B>sporty, </B>adjective, <B>sportier,</B> <B>sportiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>dashing or fast; flashy. <BR> <I>Ex. She knew he was associating with ... "a sporty crowd" (Sinclair Lewis).</I> (SYN) showy. <DD><B> 2. </B>smart in dress, appearance, manners, etc.. <BR> <I>Ex. She looked very sporty in tweeds and boots.</I> (SYN) natty. <DD><B> 3. </B>sportsmanlike; sporting. adv. <B>sportily.</B> noun <B>sportiness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="sporulate">
<B>sporulate, </B>verb, <B>-lated,</B> <B>-lating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) <DD><I>v.i. </I> to form spores or sporules. <DD><I>v.t. </I> to convert into spores. </DL>
<A NAME="sporulation">
<B>sporulation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Biology.) the formation of or conversion into spores or sporules. <BR> <I>Ex. Propagation by sporulation is characteristic of a class of the Protozoa known as the Sporozoa (Harbaugh and Goodrich).</I> </DL>
<B>spot, </B>noun, verb, <B>spotted,</B> <B>spotting,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a small mark or stain that discolors or disfigures; stain; speck. <BR> <I>Ex. a spot of ink on the paper. You have grease spots on your suit. That spot on her cheek is a bruise.</I> (SYN) fleck, blotch, blot. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) a blemish or flaw in character or reputation; moral defect; fault. <BR> <I>Ex. His record is without a spot. Sublimely mild, a spirit without spot (Shelley).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a small part unlike the rest in color, material, or finish; dot. <BR> <I>Ex. a leopard's spots. His tie is blue with white spots.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>a small extent of space; place; site; locality. <BR> <I>Ex. From this spot you can see the ocean. A lonely spot by a woodside (George Glissing); the most pleasant spot in Italy (John Evelyn).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Especially British Informal, Figurative.) a small amount or quantity; little bit. <BR> <I>Ex. a spot of lunch, a spot of brandy.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal.) a position or place with reference to employment, radio or television scheduling, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. Its time spot ... put it in head-on competition with the season's most popular show (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Informal.) a spotlight. <DD><B> 8. </B>a figure or dot on a playing card, domino, or die to show its kind or value. <DD><B> 9. </B>a small sciaenoid food fish of the Atlantic coast of North America, having a dark marking on each side. <DD><B> 10. </B>a variety of domestic pigeon, having white plumage with a spot of another color above the beak. <DD><B> 11. </B><B>=sunspot.</B> <DD><B> 12. </B>(Botany.) leaf spot. <DD><B> 13. </B>(U.S. Slang.) a piece of paper money; bill. <BR> <I>Ex. a five spot, a ten spot.</I> <DD><B> 14. </B><B>=spot announcement.</B> <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to make spots on; stain. <BR> <I>Ex. He has spotted the tablecloth.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to stain, sully, or tarnish (as character or reputation). <BR> <I>Ex. He spotted his reputation by lying repeatedly.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to mark, cover, or decorate with spots. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Informal.) to pick out; find out; recognize or detect. <BR> <I>Ex. I spotted my sister in the crowd. The teacher spotted every mistake in my paper.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to place in a certain spot or area; scatter in various spots. <BR> <I>Ex. to spot a billiard ball. Lookouts were spotted all along the coast.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>to locate (as an enemy position or weapon) exactly on the ground or a map. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Informal.) to give or allow a lead or handicap to. <BR> <I>Ex. Wisconsin spotted Illinois a first-period touchdown, then turned loose a sharp ground attack to down the nation's third ranking football team, 34-7, today (New York Times).</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to make a spot or stain. <DD><B> 2. </B>to become spotted; have spots. <BR> <I>Ex. This silk will spot with rain.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>on hand; ready. <BR> <I>Ex. a spot answer.</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>for immediate cash payment and delivery. <BR> <I>Ex. a spot sale.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>having to do with or specializing in cash transactions. <BR> <I>Ex. A leading spot firm said there was a decided improvement in mill buying (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>done or reported on the spot. <BR> <I>Ex. spot news coverage.</I> <DD><B> 4a. </B>inserted between or in regular radio or television programs. <BR> <I>Ex. There are many variations of this procedure, allowing for the placing of national and local "spot" commercials (London Times).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>produced by and broadcast from a local station. <BR><I>expr. <B>hit the spot,</B> </I>(Informal.) to be just right; be satisfactory. <BR> <I>Ex. A cool drink on a hot day is certain to hit the spot.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in a spot,</B> </I>in trouble or difficulty. <BR> <I>Ex. I was in a spot when my car ran out of gas on that lonely road.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>in spots,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>in one spot, part, place, or point and another. </I> <I>Ex. an argument weak in spots.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>at times; by snatches. <BR> <I>Ex. Mammy has a kind of obstinacy about her, in spots, that everybody don't see as I do (Harriet Beecher Stowe).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>on</B> (or <B>upon</B>) <B>the spot,</B> <DD><B> a. </B>at that very place. </I> <I>Ex. You know in business there's nothing like being on the spot (Lord Dunsany).</I> <DD><B> b. </B>(Figurative.) at once; immediately; straightway. <BR> <I>Ex. He expected his orders to be carried out on the spot.</I> <DD><B> c. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) in trouble or difficulty; in an awkward or embarrassing position. <BR> <I>Ex. He put the speaker on the spot by asking a question he could not answer.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>put on the spot,</B> </I>(Slang.) to mark (someone) for death by assassination. <BR> <I>Ex. You get rid of inconvenient subordinates ... by putting them on the spot--that is, deliberately sending them to their death (Punch).</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>spot on,</B> </I>(British Informal.) exactly right; perfectly correct. <BR> <I>Ex. [He] is a man whose forecasts are usually spot on (Sunday Times). Like the words, the setting must be spot on (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> adj. <B>spottable.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="spotannouncement">
<B>spot announcement,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a short advertisement or other announcement inserted by a local radio or television station before or during a regular network program. </DL>
<A NAME="spotbowling">
<B>spot bowling,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a method of bowling in which the player chooses a spot on the alley over which the ball must pass in order to hit the pins correctly. </DL>
<A NAME="spotcard">
<B>spot card,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any playing card identified by the number of pips on it; any card from ace to ten. </DL>
<A NAME="spotcash">
<B>spot cash,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> money paid just as soon as goods are delivered or work is done. </DL>
<A NAME="spotcheck">
<B>spot check,</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a brief, rough sampling. <BR> <I>Ex. The number of people waiting in line to make withdrawals or deposits was normal in most banks around the city, a spot check and talks with bankers showed (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a checkup made without warning. <BR> <I>Ex. A spot check ... showed that 17,000 out of 165,000 secondary school pupils were absent that day (Daily Telegraph).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spotcheck">
<B>spot-check, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to make a spot check of. <BR> <I>Ex. Tons of gold--and silver too--are being spot-checked for purity and weight (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spotface">
<B>spotface, </B>transitive verb, <B>-faced,</B> <B>-facing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to face (a spot) around a hole drilled for a bolt or screw. <BR> <I>Ex. The heads ... drill and countersink holes, spotface them ... and face the outer surfaces (Newsweek).</I> </DL>
<B>spotless, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>without a spot; absolutely clean; immaculate. <BR> <I>Ex. a spotless kitchen. She wore a spotless white apron.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) without a stain or blot; unblemished. <BR> <I>Ex. a spotless reputation.</I> adv. <B>spotlessly.</B> noun <B>spotlessness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="spotlight">
<B>spotlight, </B>noun, verb, <B>-lighted</B> or <B>-lit,</B> <B>-lighting.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>a spot or circle of bright light thrown upon a particular person or object, leaving the rest of the stage more or less unilluminated. <DD><B> b. </B>a lamp that gives such a light. <BR> <I>Ex. a spotlight in a theater.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of various somewhat similar lamps, such as an electric lamp of the type mounted on certain police cars, having a powerful, narrowly focused beam that can be pointed in any desired direction. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) public notice; anything that directs attention on a person or thing. <BR> <I>Ex. Movie stars are often in the spotlight.</I> (SYN) publicity. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to light up with a spotlight or spotlights. <BR> <I>Ex. At night, the baseball field is spotlighted.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) to call attention to; give public notice to; highlight. <BR> <I>Ex. The newspaper will spotlight an industry that few Americans know about.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spotmarket">
<B>spot market,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any place where a commodity, such as cotton, is bought and sold for immediate delivery. </DL>
<A NAME="spotnews">
<B>spot news,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> news reported at once from where it happens. <BR> <I>Ex. The newspapers, wire services, and networks sent their best men, top-seasoned hands to handle the fast-breaking spot news (Harper's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="spotpass">
<B>spot pass,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Football.) a pass timed to meet a receiver at a certain spot on the field. </DL>
<A NAME="spotted">
<B>spotted, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>marked with spots. <BR> <I>Ex. a spotted dog.</I> (SYN) speckled, dappled. <DD><B> 2. </B>(Figurative.) stained with or as if with spots, especially morally stained; blemished. <BR> <I>Ex. a spotted reputation.</I> noun <B>spottedness.</B> </DL>
