# dot

Pronunciation: say "DOT" US /dɑt/, UK /dɒt/, AUS /dɔt/

## Noun

1. A small, round spot or mark on a surface.
   - Simple: A small, round mark or spot.
   - _He placed a single dot above each letter._
   - _From the plane, the cars looked like dots on the road._
2. A punctuation mark used to indicate the end of a sentence or an abbreviation; a period or full stop.
   - Simple: A small round mark that shows the end of a sentence or a shortened word.
   - _He typed the last word and ended it with a dot._
   - _Each abbreviation in the list closes with a dot._
3. A small mark serving various purposes, including as a decimal separator, a multiplication sign, or an indication of the scalar product of two vectors.
   - Simple: A small mark used to separate whole numbers from fractions, or to show multiplication.
   - _Place a dot between the two vectors to denote their scalar product._
   - _The dot in 3.14 separates the whole number from the decimal._
4. Something very small by comparison; a tiny portion or speck.
   - Simple: A very small amount or piece of something.
   - _The far-off ship was no more than a dot on the horizon._
   - _Her hometown is a mere dot on the national map._
9. In Morse code, the shorter of the two signals, contrasted with the dash.
   - Simple: The short signal in Morse code, paired with the longer dash.
   - _The operator sent a dot followed by a long dash._
   - _Three dots in a row stand for the letter S._
10. A diacritic in the form of a small point, written above or below some Latin letters, as in Ȧ, Ạ, Ḅ, Ḃ, and Ċ.
   - Simple: A small point written above or below a letter as a special mark.
   - _The transliteration places a dot beneath the consonant._
   - _Several Latin letters take a dot above them in scholarly editions._
11. A small point placed after a note in musical notation, showing that the note's duration is increased by half.
   - Simple: A small point printed just after a musical note to show it should last 50% longer.
   - _The composer added a dot after the half note to extend its value._
   - _Sight-reading students often overlook the dot and cut the note short._
14. In cricket, a delivery off which the batter scores no runs. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: In cricket, a ball bowled from which the batter scores no runs.
   - _A string of dots in the final over left them needing too many runs._
   - _The captain praised his bowler for delivering a crucial dot at the death._
15. The money or property a woman brings to her husband at marriage; a dowry. *(dialectal, Louisiana, US)*
   - Simple: Money or property that a bride brings into a marriage.
   - _The contract specified the dot the bride would bring to the union._
   - _Without a sizable dot, the match was considered unequal._
16. Small metal pellets fired from a shotgun; buckshot. *(dialectal, Multicultural London English)*
   - Simple: Small metal balls fired from a shotgun.
   - _The old man packed the cartridge with dot for the hunt._
   - _Pellets of dot scattered across the field after the shot._
17. Clipping of dotty. Slang in Multicultural London English. *(dialectal, Multicultural London English)* — Clipping of dotty (“shotgun”).
   - Simple: Clipping of dotty. London street slang for a shotgun.
19. A prison or other place of confinement; a jail. *(dialectal, Multicultural London English)*
   - Simple: A prison or place where people are locked up.
   - _He spent two years in the dot before his release._
   - _The guards ran the dot with an iron hand._

## Verb

5. To mark something using dots or small spots.
   - Simple: To make small spots or marks on something.
   - _Artists sometimes dot the canvas to build up color gradually._
   - _She likes to dot her margins with tiny reminder marks._
6. To mark or vary a surface by scattering small, separate objects across it.
   - Simple: To spread small, separate things across a place or surface.
   - _Wildflowers dot the meadow every spring._
   - _Tiny villages dot the valley below the mountains._
7. To cover a surface with small spots of some liquid.
   - Simple: To cover something with small spots of a liquid.
   - _He dotted the canvas with drops of bright paint._
   - _Light rain will dot the windshield within minutes._
8. To add a dot or dots to a written letter or character.
   - Simple: To add a dot or dots to a letter or symbol.
   - _Remember to dot each i before handing in the form._
   - _He carefully dotted every i in his signature._
12. To strike a person with the fist. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To hit someone with a closed fist.
   - _Keep talking like that and I'll dot you._
   - _He dotted the heckler before security could step in._

## Preposition

13. Used between two vectors to denote their dot product, the sum of the products of their corresponding components.
   - Simple: Placed between two vectors to show you should combine them in a special way that gives a single number.
   - _Computing work means you dot the force vector with the displacement vector._
   - _If you dot two perpendicular vectors, the result is zero._

## Noun

18. A lump or clot of matter. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A lump or thick clump of something.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–14, 16–19** — From Middle English dot, dotte, from Old English dott ("a dot, point"), which came from Proto-West Germanic *dott and Proto-Germanic *duttaz ("wisp"). It is related to Dutch dot ("lump, knot, clod") and dialectal Swedish dott ("a little heap, clump").
**Meaning 15** — From French dot.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/dot (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).