mottle
mottle — noun
1. a single patch of a different color on a surface, usually one of many that toget
a single patch of a different color on a surface, usually one of many that together form an uneven pattern.
Mira noticed a dark mottle on the underside of the old marble table.
singular 'a mottle' for one individual patch
Apinya spotted a pale mottle on the tomato leaf and called the gardener over.
Each mottle on the koi's back was edged in bright orange.
Bilal pointed to a small green mottle near the edge of the painted bowl.
文法句型
a mottle of [color]
用法筆記
Used as a count noun for ONE individual patch within a larger pattern; the pattern as a whole is described by sense 2 or by the mass-noun reading of 'mottle'.
常見錯誤
2. the overall look of a surface that is covered with patches of different colors a
the overall look of a surface that is covered with patches of different colors arranged in no clear order.
The horse's coat showed a soft mottle of grey and white across its flank.
common frame: a mottle of [color1] and [color2]
Ilan loved the brown and gold mottle of the autumn leaves on the path.
Sunlight through the trees threw a soft mottle of light onto Hao's open book.
Aarav admired the warm honey-brown mottle of the old wooden floor in his grandmother's hallway.
- uniformity
even single color with no variation
文法句型
a mottle of [colors]
用法筆記
Names the whole irregular arrangement, not one patch. Distinguish from sense 1 by counting: if you can point to ONE patch, sense 1; if you describe the overall look, sense 2.
常見錯誤
mottle — verb
- mottlepresent simple I / you / we / they
- mottles3rd person singular
- mottling-ing form
- mottledpast simple
1. to cover a surface with uneven patches of different colors, or for a surface to
to cover a surface with uneven patches of different colors, or for a surface to slowly take on such an uneven, patchy look.
Years of damp had mottled the kitchen ceiling with brown and grey patches.
transitive: X mottles Y with [color]
Élise watched the apples slowly mottle as autumn went on.
intransitive: surface mottles over time
Andrés's hands were mottled with paint after a long day in the studio.
Sunlight through the curtains mottled the bedroom wall with shifting circles of gold.
After two cold weeks, frost had mottled every window in the kitchen.
文法句型
be mottled with [color]
[surface] mottle
用法筆記
Often passive with 'be mottled with [color/substance]'. Subject is usually a slow, surface-changing cause (damp, age, frost, paint, sunlight) — not a quick human action.