Definition of "mottle" [mot•tle]

• To mark with spots or blotches of different shades or colors. (verb-transitive)
• A spot or blotch of color. (noun)
• A variegated pattern, as on marble. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The characteristic markings on mahogany are "mottle," which is also found in sycamore, and is conspicuous on the backs of fiddles and violins, and is not in itself valuable; it runs the transverse way of the fibres and is probably the effect of the wind upon the tree in its early stages of growth."
• ""mottle" behavior in the image generated by CMOS active pixel sensor devices."
• "Or invent an anxious axolotl whose gross debilitating mottle ..."