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dot1

Syllabification: (dot)
Pronunciation: /dät/

Translate dot | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of dot

noun

  • a small round mark or spot:a symbol depicted in colored dots
  • a dot written or printed as part of an i or j, as a diacritical mark, as one of a series of marks to signify omission, or as a period.
  • Music a dot used to denote the lengthening of a note or rest by half, or to indicate staccato.
  • the shorter signal of the two used in Morse code. Compare with dash (sense 3 of the noun).
  • used to refer to an object that appears tiny because it is far away:the desert shrank figures to mere dots
  • used to indicate the punctuation separating parts of an e-mail or website address:drop me a note at heatvision dot com

verb (dots, dotting, dotted)

[with object]
  • mark with a small spot or spots:wet spots of rain began to dot his shirt
  • (of a number of items) be scattered over (an area):churches dot the countryside
  • place a dot over (a letter):you need to dot the i
  • Music mark (a note or rest) to show that the time value is increased by half: (as adjective dotted)a dotted quarter note

Phrases

dot the i's and cross the t's

informal ensure that all details are correct.

on the dot

informal exactly on time:he arrived on the dot at nine o’clock

Derivatives

dotter

noun

Origin:

Old English dott 'head of a boil'. The word is recorded only once in Old English, then not until the late 16th century, when it is found in the sense 'a small lump or clot', perhaps influenced by Dutch dot 'a knot'. The sense 'small mark or spot' dates from the mid 17th century

dot in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of dot in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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