frequently_asked_questions_files/Oxford Thesaurus.pdf

accentuate, accent, point up, underscore, underline, point up:
The students held a sit-in to spotlight the cuts in their
grants.
spotty adj. 1 spotted, dotted, speckled, freckled, flecked, blotched,
blotchy, stained, marked, pied, piebald, brindle(d), skewbald,
mottled, motley, dapple(d), macular, foxed; soiled, dirty; Brit
splodgy, splodged or US also splotchy, splotched: Pages of some
old books are spotty with brown stains. 2 pimply, pimpled,
blotched, blotchy, acned, pock-marked, pocky, bad, Scots plouky
or plooky: Ian used to have a spotty complexion, but it's clear
now. 3 patchy, irregular, uneven, erratic, sporadic,
capricious, fitful: Radio reception in our area is spotty
during electrical storms.
spout v. 1 discharge, emit, squirt, spurt, jet, shoot, gush, erupt,
spew (up or out or forth), spit, eject, disgorge, vomit (up or
forth), pour (out or forth), flow, stream: Steam spouts from
many vents in Iceland. The water came spouting out of the hose
and drenched me. 2 ramble on, rant, rave, carry on, pontificate,
orate, declaim, hold forth, maunder (on), witter on, hold forth,
expatiate, speechify, talk, Colloq go on, Brit rabbit on:
Harry, as usual, was spouting about his golf handicap.
--n. 3 waterspout, gargoyle, downspout, duct, drain, outlet,
conduit: The rainwater drains into the gutters, then into the
spouts. 4 up the spout. gone, lost, destroyed, beyond hope or
recovery, to be written off or abandoned: Our dream of finding
the treasure was now up the spout.
sprawl v. 1 spread (out), stretch (out), straddle, ramble, meander,
wander, straggle, branch out: Greater Los Angeles sprawls over
a huge area of some 450 square miles. 2 spread out, stretch out,
loll, lounge, slouch, slump, recline, lie about or around: A
dozen guests were sprawled on blankets at the beach party.
--n. 3 spread, stretch, expansion, extension: Some suburbs of
large cities have been swallowed up in urban sprawl.
spray° v. 1 sprinkle, spatter, scatter, shower, disperse, diffuse,
atomize, spread: Try to spray the insecticide evenly over the
plants.