1a. A tiny round mark made by or as if by a pointed instrument; a spot. b. Such a mark used in orthography, as above an i.c. The basic unit of composition for an image produced by a device that prints text or graphics on paper: a resolution of 900 dots per inch.2. A tiny amount. 3. In Morse and similar codes, the short sound or signal used in combination with the dash and silent intervals to represent letters, numbers, or punctuation. 4.Mathematicsa. A decimal point. b. A symbol (·) indicating multiplication, as in 2 · 4 = 8. 5.Music A mark after a note indicating an increase in time value by half. 6.Computer Science A period, as used as in URLs and e-mail addresses, to separate strings of words, as in www.hmco.com.
VERB:
Inflected forms: dot·ted, dot·ting, dots
TRANSITIVE VERB:
1. To mark with a dot. 2. To form or make with dots. 3. To cover with or as if with dots: “Campfires, like red, peculiar blossoms, dotted the night” (Stephen Crane).
INTRANSITIVE VERB:
To make a dot.
IDIOM:
on(or at)the dot Exactly at the appointed time; punctual or punctually: arrived at nine o'clock on the dot.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English *dot, from Old English dott, head of a boil.
d
t
ter —NOUN
