dot
dot1 / dät/ • n. a small round mark or spot: a symbol depicted in colored dots. ∎ such a mark written or printed as part of an i or j, as a diacritical mark, as one of a series of marks to signify omission, or as a period. ∎ Mus. such a mark used to denote the lengthening of a note or rest by half, or to indicate staccato. ∎ the shorter signal of the two used in Morse code. Compare with dash (sense 3). ∎ used to refer to an object that appears tiny because it is far away: the desert shrank figures to mere dots. ∎ used in speech to indicate the punctuation separating parts of an electronic mail or Web site address.• v. (dot·ted , dot·ting ) [tr.] mark with a small spot or spots: wet spots of rain began to dot his shirt. ∎ (of a number of items) be scattered over (an area): churches dot the countryside. ∎ place a dot over (a letter): you need to dot the i. ∎ Mus. mark (a note or rest) to show that the time value is increased by half: [as adj.] (dotted) a dotted quarter note. PHRASES: dot the i's and cross the t's inf. ensure that all details are correct.on the dot inf. exactly on time: he arrived on the dot at nine o'clock.DERIVATIVES: dot·ter n.dot2 • n. archaic a dowry, particularly one from which only the interest or annual income was available to the husband.