fleck

plural flecks

1. A flake.

   two flecks of Lard cut with your knife

   1675, William Rabisha, The Whole Body of Cookery Dissected, Taught and Fully

2. A lock, as of wool.

   With teeth they smooth their work, as on it slips, And flecks of wool stick to their wither'd lips

   1861, Theodore Martin, The poems of Catullus, translated into English verse

   1 more example

   A single fleck of wool from his sock got caught on a splintery floorboard and that was enough to convict him.

   2015, Graham Masterson, Eye for an Eye: A Katie Maguire Short Story

3. A small spot or streak; a speckle.

   So fret not, like an idle girl, / That life is dash'd with flecks of sin. / Abide: thy wealth is gathered in, / When Time hath sunder'd shell from pearl.

   1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto LI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 74

   Synonyms: mote, particle, speck, tittle

4. A small amount.

   a fleck of hope

   1 more example

   a fleck of imagination

   Synonyms: ace, atom, thought, atomy, aught, bissel, continental, bit

present singular third person flecks · participle present flecking · participle past flecked · past flecked

1. transitiveTo mark (something) with small spots.

   It was a perfect June day, with only a few light clouds flecking a pure blue sky.

   1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 241

   2 more examples

   So this was my future home, I thought![…]Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

   1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

   The Names of the Moons of Mars is a frequently somber book, flecked through with optimism and humor.

   1989 December 17, Nan Donald, “Broken Hearts, Messed Up Families, And New Beginnings”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 23, page 9

   Synonyms: fleak

1. A surname.