on the dot

noun

1. a small, roundish mark made with or as if with a pen.
2. a minute or small spot on a surface; speck: There were dots of soot on the window sill.
3. anything relatively small or specklike.
4. a small specimen, section, amount, or portion: a dot of butter.
5. a period, especially as used when pronouncing an Internet address.
6. Music.
   1. a point placed after a note or rest, to indicate that the duration of the note or rest is to be increased one half. A double dot further increases the duration by one half the value of the single dot.
   2. a point placed under or over a note to indicate that it is to be played staccato.
7. Telegraphy. a signal of shorter duration than a dash, used in groups along with groups of dashes and spaces to represent letters, as in Morse code.
8. Printing. an individual element in a halftone reproduction.

verb (used with object), dot·ted, dot·ting.

9. to mark with or as if with a dot or dots.
10. to stud or diversify with or as if with dots: Trees dot the landscape.
11. to form or cover with dots: He dotted a line across the page.
12. Cookery. to sprinkle with dabs of butter, margarine, or the like: Dot the filling with butter.

verb (used without object), dot·ted, dot·ting.

13. to make a dot or dots.

Idioms

14. dot one’s i’s and cross one’s t’s, to be meticulous or precise, even to the smallest detail.
15. on the dot, Informal. precisely; exactly at the time specified: The guests arrived at eight o’clock on the dot.
16. the year dot, British Informal. very long ago.

noun

1. a small round mark made with or as with a pen, etc; spot; speck; point
2. anything resembling a dot; a small amounta dot of paint
3. the mark (˙) that appears above the main stem of the letters i, j
4. music
   1. the symbol (·) placed after a note or rest to increase its time value by half
   2. this symbol written above or below a note indicating that it must be played or sung staccato
5. maths logic
   1. the symbol (.) indicating multiplication or logical conjunction
   2. a decimal point
6. the symbol (·) used, in combination with the symbol for dash (–), in the written representation of Morse and other telegraphic codesCompare dit
7. the year dot informal as long ago as can be remembered
8. on the dot at exactly the arranged time

verb dots, dotting or dotted

9. (tr) to mark or form with a dotto dot a letter; a dotted crotchet
10. (tr) to scatter or intersperse (with dots or something resembling dots)bushes dotting the plain
11. (intr) to make a dot or dots
12. dot one’s i’s and cross one’s t’s to pay meticulous attention to detail

noun

1. civil law a woman’s dowry

n.Old English dott “speck, head of a boil,” perhaps related to Norwegian dot “lump, small knot,” Dutch dot “knot, small bunch, wisp,” Old High German tutta “nipple;” ultimate origin unclear. Known from a single source c.1000; the word reappeared with modern meaning “mark” c.1530; not common until 18c. Morse telegraph sense is from 1838. On the dot “punctual” is 1909, in reference to a clock dial face. Dot-matrix first attested 1975. v.1740, from dot (n.). Related: Dotted; dotting. n.

1. A tiny round mark made by or as if by a pointed instrument; a spot.

1. A symbol (·) indicating multiplication, as in 2 · 4 = 8. It is used to indicate the dot product of vectors, for example A · B.
2. A period, as used as in URLs and e-mail addresses, to separate strings of words, as in www.hmco.com.

Exactly on time, as in We had to be there at eight on the dot. The dot in this idiom is the mark appearing on the face of a watch or clock indicating the time in question. It may come from the earlier to a dot, meaning “exactly” since the early 1700s but no longer heard today. [c. 1900] Also see on the button. In addition to the idiom beginning with dot

dot the i’s and cross the t’s

also see:

on the dot

sign on the dotted line