as in discovery
the act or process of sighting or learning the existence of something for the first time
the spotting of a new bird is always a thrill for an avid bird-watcher
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in sprinkling
to mark with small spots especially unevenly
to give the effect of sunlight on water, the artist spotted the lake in his painting with flecks of gold paint
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in noticing
to make note of (something) through the use of one's eyes
I spotted both of them as they tried to sneak out the back door
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in spraying
to cover by or as if by scattering something over or on
the TV networks had spotted reporters all over the state for the election
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spotting
Noun
-
The discovery resulted in dozens of charges including rape of a minor under 12.—
Cristóbal Reyes,
The Orlando Sentinel,
22 Apr. 2025 -
The discovery came as a complete shock to archaeologists, who were unaware of the church or its burial ground.—
Andrea Margolis,
FOXNews.com,
22 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
His courageous findings debunk the conventional wisdom reflected and amplified by Missing: there is no evidence that the U.S. government was involved.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Apr. 2025
-
Boeing’s Historical Odds Of Positive Post-Earnings Return Some key findings regarding one-day (1D) post-earnings movements: Across 20 earnings releases in the past five years, there were 10 positive and 10 negative 1D returns, meaning a 50% chance of a positive reaction.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
22 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Saint Alphonsus is still seeing some sporadic RSV cases and typical COVID cases for this time of year, Kitamura said.—
Carolyn Komatsoulis,
Idaho Statesman,
5 Jan. 2025
-
The games have been about playing spoiler in the NFC playoff picture and seeing what on this 2024 roster is transferrable to the future.—
Saad Yousuf,
The Athletic,
5 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Many bot detection systems embed JavaScript challenges within webpages, but attackers easily reverse-engineer and bypass them.—
Nick Rieniets,
Forbes.com,
25 Apr. 2025
-
Bane was trained and certified in drug detection, tracking, apprehension and article search, Snyder wrote.—
Grant Lancaster,
Arkansas Online,
24 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
The exclamations continued, though, with everyone else on my new team peppering their prose with similar jolts of electricity.—
Danny Heitman,
Christian Science Monitor,
2 Apr. 2025
-
Owens came back by peppering Zayn with several shots using a trash can lid.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes,
2 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Casting of new roles is expected to begin shortly, with production eying a July start, sources said.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
14 Mar. 2025
-
The Warriors are currently riding high on a five-game win streak, and are eyeing a potential top-four seed in the West.—
Alex Kirschenbaum,
Newsweek,
14 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Operations in Egypt are only just recovering from a production slump, and uncertainty remains regarding the start of production for its Suriname project.—
Ariel Cohen,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
-
Newly released military documents regarding New Year's Day attackers Matthew Livelsberger and Shamsud-Din Jabbar show that while both were stationed at then-Fort Bragg and deployed to Afghanistan, the two never served together.—
Greg Wehner,
Fox News,
6 Jan. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Spotting.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spotting. Accessed 2 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share