mottle

1 mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained [syn: streak, blotch]

2 colour with streaks or blotches of different shades [syn: dapple, cloud]

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɒtəl

Verb

1. To mark with spots of different color, or shades of color, as if stained; to spot; to maculate.

Mottle or mottling is the appearance of uneven, usually yellowish spots on plants. It is usually a symptom of disease or malnutrition. Many plant viruses cause this symptom, some examples being:

• Tobacco vein mottling virus
• Bean pod mottle virus

Mottling is sometimes used to describe uneven discolored patches on the skin of humans as a result of cutaneous ischemia (lowered blood flow to the surfaces of the skin) or Herpes zoster infections.

Literature

band, bar, bespangle, bespeckle, bespot, birthmark, blaze, blaze a trail, blemish, blotch, brand, caste mark, chalk, chalk up, check, check off, checker, checkmark, cicatrix, cicatrize, cut, dapple, dappledness, dappleness, dash, define, delimit, demarcate, discolor, discoloration, dot, dottedness, earmark, engrave, engraving, flake, fleck, flick, freckle, freckliness, gash, graving, hack, harlequin, hatch, impress, imprint, iris, jot, lentigo, line, macula, maculate, maculation, macule, make a mark, marble, marbleize, mark, mark off, mark out, marking, mole, motley, mottledness, nevus, nick, notch, patch, pencil, pepper, point, pointillage, pointillism, polka dot, polychrome, polychromize, prick, print, punch, punctuate, puncture, rainbow, riddle, scar, scarification, scarify, score, scotch, scratch, scratching, seal, seam, spangle, speck, speckle, speckliness, splash, splotch, spot, spottedness, spottiness, sprinkle, stain, stamp, stigma, stigmatize, stipple, stippledness, stippling, strawberry mark, streak, striate, stripe, stud, tattoo, tattoo mark, tessellate, tick, tick off, tittle, trace, underline, underscore, variegate, vein, watermark