specn.1
/spɛk/, U.S. /spɛk/ colloquial and slang (originally U.S.).
1. in extended use.1829 in W. I. Knapp Life G. Borrow (1899) I. 140 Do not enter the army; it is a bad spec.1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Kitchen Garden 177 Sow a few dwarf kidney beans as a spec.
a. A commercial speculation or venture.Frequently with qualifying adjective as bad, good.
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society > trade and finance > [noun] > trading venture or speculation > an act of
adventure1548
venture1584
spec1794
operation1832
society > trade and finance > financial dealings > types of money-dealing > [noun] > speculation > a speculation
adventure1548
venture1584
speculation1776
spec1794
operation1832
play1957
1794 J. Adams Wks. (1856) I. 469 Many merchants have already made a noble spec. of the embargo by raising their prices.
1819 W. Faux Jrnl. 16 Oct. in Memorable Days Amer. (1823) 37 By way of turning a penny, or as they say, of making a good spec. of it.
1824 in Spirit of Public Jrnls. (1825) 204 And the Hunts—a bad spec.,..Have published some posthumous trash of Byshe Shelly.
1851 H. Mayhew London Labour I. 378/2 I have already sold enough to pay me well enough for my spec.
1872 A. H. Hutchinson Try Cracow (ed. 2) v. 93 A Prussian banker..who purchased the property..as a kind of spec to form into a limited company.
b. on spec, on the chance of obtaining some advantage, gaining some profit, etc. Later more generally: as a gamble, on the off chance.
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the world > existence and causation > causation > chance or causelessness > [adverb] > on the off chance
on speculation1811
on spec1832
1832 F. Marryat Newton Forster III. ix. 143 Both..came out on spec.
1837 C. Dickens Pickwick Papers xxxiii. 368 They said what a wery gen'rous thing it was o' them to have taken up the case on spec.
1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago III. vii. 217 If tradesmen will run up houses on spec in a water-meadow, who can stop them?
1928 R. Campbell Wayzgoose ii. 36 Some came on spec and others came on bikes.
1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xxv. 256 He never tries anywhere on spec., and never does more than two houses a night.
1970 G. Greer Female Eunuch 178 The third book bought on that same day was bought on spec.
1978 N.Y. Mag. 3 Apr. 36/3 Franklin Thomas remembers starting the center on spec with an analysis that projected a 50–50 chance of succeeding.
1981 B. Hines Looks & Smiles 197 ‘Is he expecting you?’ ‘No, we just came on spec.’
2. Winchester College slang. A good or enjoyable thing or occasion. Also on spec.
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1891 R. G. K. Wrench Winchester Word-bk. (1901) (at cited word)
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1913; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
specn.2
U.S. slang.
1. In a circus: (see quot. 1926).
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > circus performance > [noun] > item in
liberty act1923
spec1926
1926 Amer. Speech 1 283/1 Spec., the opening spectacle, or grand entry.
1949 New Yorker 5 Nov. 61 Mrs. Webster rode an elephant in the ‘spec’.
2. An elaborate and expensive television show.
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society > communication > broadcasting > television > [noun] > type of programme
dramedy1905
news film1912
sex comedy1915
television adaptation1935
action comedy1936
sportcast1939
teleshopper1949
telethon1949
special1952
television special1952
TV special1952
science-fictioner1953
spectacular1954
promo1955
sitcom1956
spec1959
spin-off1959
reality programming1962
teleroman1964
mockumentary1965
serialization1965
talk show1965
laugh-in1967
novela1968
reality show1968
breakfast television1971
spy series1975
reality television1978
reality TV1980
series1988
shockumentary1988
1959 G. Marx Let. 7 Dec. in G. Marx et al. Groucho Lett. (1967) 268 Our little play..could possibly be done as a TV spec.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
specn.3
colloquial.
A detailed working description; a standard of manufacture or construction. Also transferred. Frequently plural.
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the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > conformity to or with a pattern, etc. > [noun] > a standard or norm > of manufacture or construction
spec1956
1956 Mag. Fantasy & Sci. Fiction Oct. 20/2 Belle was not only a perfect secretary..she also had personal specs which would have delighted Praxiteles.
1966 Aviation Week & Space Technol. 5 Dec. 5/3 (advt.) The reliability requirements are, in many cases, virtually unbelievable. Seemingly, a unit built to these kinds of specs would almost have to work perfectly forever.
1976 J. Carroll Madonna Red (1977) i. 30 The 707 spec sheets she had memorised..at the Black September training camp.
1979 Amateur Photographer 30 May 99/1 The basic specs of these two new OMs remain the same.
1979 Truck & Bus Transportation July 20/2 Leyland Australia is basically working within the U.K. spec. to keep costs down.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
specn.4
U.S. colloquial.
= specialist n. 3e.
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society > armed hostility > warrior > soldier > soldier with special duty > [noun]
partyman1693
specialist1955
spec1958
1958 Army–Navy–Air Force Register 14 June 7 Grade E7. Title, Old: Master Spec. New: Specialist-7.
1969 I. Kemp Brit. G.I. in Vietnam iii. 43 Specialist Fourth Class—or Spec. Four—Much, a small man..who talked in a continuous monotone.
1977 ‘E. McBain’ Long Time no See xii. 200 These are designations of rank. An E-3 is a Pfc., a Spec 4 is Specialist 4th Class, a corporal. An E-5 is a three-striper, and so on.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
specadj.
colloquial.
Of or pertaining to the practice of building houses without prior guarantee of sale, esp. in estate developments. Also as adv. Cf. speculative adj. 7a.
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society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > [adjective] > without guarantee of sale
spec1958
speculative-built1960
1958 Observer 2 Mar. 8/4 As ‘developers’ and L.P.T.B. leap-frogged over each other..far into the Home Counties, we created the vast paradise of spec' building and hire-purchase.
1958 Spectator 4 July 13/1 Builder-designed ‘spec’ houses.
1958 Spectator 8 Aug. 193/2 A film snippet of ‘spec.’ housing.
1962 D. Tench Law for Consumers vii. 100 Where the buyer buys a completed new house from the builder or developer (what is sometimes called a ‘spec’ built house).
1965 New Society 11 Nov. 6/3 How seldom local authorities and spec builders use any research at all.
1970 J. Betjeman Ghastly Good Taste (new ed.) p. xxv Spec. builders and advertisement hoardings and litter droppers.
1978 J. Wainwright Jury People lii. 191 That estate..contains..‘high density’ housing... ‘Spec building’—that is, or was, the term used for such estates.
1978 Listener 14 Sept. 337/3 The new, spec-built, often neo-Georgian houses.
Draft additions September 2018
Film and Television. Designating a screenplay written speculatively, without having been commissioned by a producer or production company; esp. designating a sample script for an episode of an existing television series, designed to showcase the writer’s talents. Esp. in spec script.
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society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > cinematography > a film > screenplay or script > [adjective] > type of
spec1954
1954 Variety 14 Apr. 55/3 Spec script is being prepared by William Gibson, who has sold his recent novel, ‘The Cobweb’, to M-G-M.
1981 V. L. Jones How to type Scripts (rev. ed.) 62 One way to get an agent is to do a spec television script for a series you know thoroughly.
1993 Guardian 11 Sept. 29/3 Until recently just another grubby Hollywood kid who wrote spec screenplays that studio readers hated, he has risen fast.
2010 A. H. Blackwell Television iv. 85 If a show's producer likes your spec script, you may be called for an interview.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1986; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
specv.
/spɛk/, U.S. /spɛk/ 1. transitive. To grade (coal) as meeting a defined standard (only in passive). Also intransitive (with out): (of coal) to meet a defined standard.
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society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (transitive)] > other (coal-)mining procedures
underbeit1670
buck1683
bank1705
bunding1747
urge1758
slappet1811
tamp1819
jowl1825
stack1832
sprag1841
hurry1847
bottom1851
salt1852
pipe1861
mill1868
tram1883
stope1886
sump1910
crow-pick1920
stockpile1921
spec1981
1981 Coal Week (Nexis) 16 Feb. 4 Pennsylvania product specing out at 12,500 Btu/lb., under 2% sulfur guaranteed.
1981 Coal Week Internat. (Nexis) 15 Apr. 1 Japanese sources put the price at $61..for coal speced at 32% to 34% volatility, 0.8% sulfur and 7.5% ash.
1990 Coal Americas (Nexis) 12 July 3 The three-year deal calls for the purchase of coal spec'd at 6,700 kcal/kg.
2. transitive. To outline or choose the specifications of; to define specifications for. Also: to build or manufacture to a defined standard. Also with out.
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1983 Electronic News 4 July 14/1 When..vendors spec their machines they don't always include exposure times or wafer changing times.
1991 S. Winchester Pacific (1992) 351 A small team had already been assembled ‘to spec out what was going to be the personal computer of the 80s’.
1992 Playboy July 33/2 Most bike companies don't build bikes, they spec them, choosing the best components within a certain price range. The local bike shop puts the pieces together.
1996 T. Clancy Executive Orders xxxi. 414 It was in its way a highly sophisticated device,..and spec'd to survive violent impacts.
2006 Driven Sept. 18/1 When you're speccing your Laguna Seca Blau M3, pick the European delivery option.
3. transitive. With out or up. To improve the specifications of; to customize.
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the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > adaptation or adjustment > adapt or adjust [verb (transitive)] > adapt to customer's requirements
customize1920
spec1986
1986 R. Franklin Defender ii. ix. 210 Originally conceived as a sedate, economical power plant for a scrapped midrange jetliner, the engine had been ‘specced out’ to meet the military's need for speed and enormous power.
1994 BBC Top Gear Mag. Aug. 127/1 I specced it up how I wanted. There's an extra-wide double bunk, TV and video, CD-stacker, fridge and that.
2005 Stuff Aug. 27/3 £600 buys your basic KMX (£300 for a kids' model) but you can spec it up to your heart's content.
Derivatives
ˈspecced adj.
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1982 Coal Week (Nexis) 15 Mar. 5 Costs..are higher than for comparably speced coal in the area.
2004 Boys Toys July 22/1 Setting this apart from a wealth of similarly specced cameras is the fact it captures video in RGB rather than conventional CMYG.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11794
n.21926n.31956n.41958adj.1954v.1981- long-livedness
- long-living
- long-locked
- long-longed-for
- long-looked-for
- long-lost
- long-lugged
- long-lunged
- long-maned
- long-memoried
- long-minded
- long-mouthed
- long-nebbed
- long-neck clam
- long-necked
- long-neglected
- long-netting
- long-nose
- long-nose pliers
- long-nosed
- long-nosed bat
- long-nosed pliers
- long-nosed potoroo
- long-nosed skate
- long-parted