■
verb (spot-lit, spot lit /-lit/ lii^ia Especially in sense 2,
spot-light ed is also used for the past tense and
past participle. % 2 spotlight
ed^: ) [VN] 1 to shine a spotlight on sb/sth
a spotlit stage & 2 to give special atten
tion to a problem, situation, etc. so that
people notice it
( &$#&&& ) B03 HIGHLIGHT:
The programme spotlights financial problems in the health service.
.spot 'on adj. [not before noun] (BrE,
informal) exactly right to AA5S; His assessment of the
situation was
spot on. <=t>
note at true
spot-ted /'spDtid; NAmE 'spait-/
adj. 1 (of cloth, etc.
¥j)
having a regular pattern of round dots on it fj ft A $■): a
black and white spotted dress H AAf! la] (Hj A® 2
having dark marks on it, sometimes in a pattern A$£A $3: a leopard’s spotted
coat .spotted
'dick noun [U] [BrE) a hot dessert (= a sweet dish) like a sponge cake with dried fruit in it fj ^
7 AT
spot ter /'spDt9(r); NAmE ‘spait-/ noun
1 (especially in compounds n‘is]) a person who looks for a
particular type of thing or person, as a hobby or
job MT ( AT ) : a talent
spotter
(= sb
who visits clubs and theatres looking for new performers) MM — see also trainspotter 2 (also 'spotter plane) a plane used for finding out what an enemy
is doing
spotty /'spDti; NAmE 'sparti/ adj. 1 (BrE, usually disapproving) (of a
person A) having a lot of spots on the skin Pin pimply a spotty adolescent O a spotty face
A$i-6:0ftt)3§: 2 (NAmE)
= patchy(2)
spouse /spaus; spauz/ noun (formal or law #:) a
husband or wife ggfjl ► spou-sal /'spauzl; 'spausl/ adj.
[only before noun] (formal) : spousal consent 0£W [W] jg; o spousal
abuse
spout /spaut/ noun, verb
• noun 1 a pipe or tube on a container, that you
can pour liquid out through ( ) Rf: the
spout of a
teapot ^agRt 2 a stream of liquid coming out of
somewhere with great force ( )
Att, ETITl
fountain ITififll be/go up the
'spout (BrE,
slang) to
be/go wrong; to be spoilt or not working fHt; fiff; tif |pj ^Well, that’s my
holiday plans gone up the spout! &T, !
« verb 1 to send out sth, especially a liquid, in a
stream with great force; to come out of sth in this way A;
|j- Em pour : [VN] The wound was still
spouting blood, P 2 A il o 0 [V +adv./prep.] Clear
water spouted from the fountains. AM'Affco
2 [V] (of a whale |g) to send out a stream of water from a hole in its
head 3 ~ (off/on) (about sth) (informal, disapproving) to speak a lot
about sth; to repeat sth in a boring or annoying way jg jg 7 ffeii.; ^ ^ 7 T
ift : [V] He’s always spouting off about being a vegetarian.
0
VWiat are you spouting on about now? 50ft
'A aM? o [VN] He could
spout poetry for hours. A0 o She
could do nothing but spout insults. MRzT&Tcj&Aitk
S?A,
sprain /sprein/ verb [VN] to injure a joint in your
body, especially your wrist or ankle, by suddenly twisting it tH'fft ( : I stumbled and sprained my ankle.
7-'®,
jfi®I#7ffl7o o note at injure ► sprain noun: a bad ankle sprain sprang pt of spring
sprat /spraet/ noun a very small European sea fish
that is used for food UTE&lW,
A# )
sprawl /sproil/ verb, noun
■
verb [V +adv./prep.] 1 to sit or lie with your arms
and legs spread out in a relaxed or awkward way
*£ ( SStlft') : He was sprawling in an armchair in front of
the TV. o
Something hit her and sent her sprawling to the ground. 7&AA7MAA7M1, ol tripped
and went sprawling. i^7^T, 7 A P51# ®] X *
2 to
spread in an untidy way; to cover a large area
1947 spread
MM; ^SLAi7: The town sprawled along the side
of the lake. 7®j
■
noun 1 [C, usually sing., U] a large area covered with buildings that spreads
from the city into the countryside in an ugly way ( #£T|r)
attempts to control the fast-growing urban sprawl
fj
2 [C, usually sing.] an act of spreading to
cover a large area in an untidy way; sth that spreads like this MM; ISi
sprawled /sproild/ adj. sitting or lying with your arms and
legs spread out in a lazy or awkward way MfcM ( ) A ( ) fW: He
was lying
sprawled in an armchair, watching TV. tEM
sprawl ing /‘sproilir)/ adj. [only before noun] spreading in an untidy way IMM;
A
■
noun 1 [U, C] very small drops of a liquid that are sent
through the air, for example by the wind vtl#-; t)c?£; "Xffl.: sea spray j$AfHJil!?£ 0 A cloud of fine spray came up from the waterfall. /K#0 o (figurative)
a spray of machine-gun bullets - M AfJl+£73fl
2 [U, C] (especially in compounds
AfflTfWM'nial) a substance that is forced out of a container such as an aerosol, in very small drops RftJiJ; ']$.$■: a
can
of insect spray (= used to kill insects) 0
body spray g 7jc — picture o packaging — see also hairspray 3 [C] a device or container, for example an aerosol, that you use to apply liquid
in fine drops Rf M ££ : 0. throat spray ^ #
S 4 [C] an act of
applying liquid to sth in very small drops MjAIHJ
I gave the plants a quick spray.
^7^770 5 [C] a small branch of a tree or
plant, with its leaves and flowers or berries,
that you use for decoration ( Hd sprig
6 [C] an attractive arrangement
of flowers or jewellery, that you wear ( )
—Mfe, a
spray of orchids
■ verb 1 ~ sth (on/onto/over sb/sth) | ~ sb/sth (with sth)
to cover sb/sth with very small drops of a
liquid that are forced out of a container or sent through the air fflfr; ffi; |n| • bHffl: [VN] Spray the conditioner
onto your wet hair. 0 The crops
are regularly sprayed with pesticide. J$ ^ A ^ ffi >7 A
lfij0 O [VN-ADJ] She’s had the car sprayed
blue. Mih
AtC 7Ife« o[V]
sb/sth with a lot of small things with a lot of
force foj - filj- ( ^iS ) ; Vt---Alt: [VN] The gunman sprayed
the building with bullets. fWJ^AAllA 0 [V]
Pieces of glass sprayed all over the room. M S iy&felUtT $ M
S? it o 3 [V] (especially
of a male cat X fa i£ $$ f4 ^fj%) to leave small amounts of urine to mark its own areaj« ( )
'spray
can noun a small metal container
that has paint in it under pressure and that yotr use to spray paint onto sth
nftgii;
spray-er /'sprei0(r)/ noun a piece of equipment used for spraying
liquid, especially paint or a substance used to kill insects that damage crops a
paint/crop sprayer
'spray gun noun a device for spraying
paint onto a surface, that works by air pressure utjft 'spray-on adj. [only before noun] (especially BrE) that you can spray onto sth/sb from a
special container #J; : a
spray-on water repellent for shoes
'spray
paint noun [u] paint that is kept
in a container under pressure and that you can spray onto sth ^ ► 'spray-paint verb [VN] spread O-w /spred/ verb, noun m verb (spread, spread)
► OPEN/ARRANGE M/f ; till-/! 1 [VN] ~ sth (out) (on/over sth) to open sth that has been
folded so that it covers a larger area than before iff; tiff: to spread a cloth