1. The act of discovering or noticing something, especially by careful observation
   "His spotting of the rare bird excited the entire birdwatching group";
   - detection, catching, espial, spying
    
2. The act of spotting or staining something
   "The accidental spotting of the carpet required professional cleaning";
   - staining, maculation

1. Catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes
   "We spotd a ship on the horizon";
   - spy, sight, descry [literary], espy
    
2. Detect or identify something despite difficulty or distance
   "I could barely spot the ship through the fog";
   - recognize, recognise [Brit], distinguish, discern, pick out, make out
    
3. Mar or impair with a flaw
   "her face was spotted";
   - blemish
    
4. Make a spot or mark onto
   "The wine spotted the tablecloth";
   - fleck, blob, blot
    
5. Become spotted
   "This dress spots quickly"
    
6. Mark with a spot or spots so as to allow easy recognition
   "spot the areas that one should clearly identify"
    
7. [Brit] Observe or take notes about instances of a particular type of thing as a hobby
   "he went train spotting"

Derived forms: spottings

Type of: begrime, bemire [archaic], change, change surface, colly [archaic], comprehend, detect, dirty, dirtying, discover, discovery, find, grime, mark, notice, observe, perceive, soil, soiling, soilure [archaic], uncovering

Encyclopedia: Spotting