"mottle" in the noun sense

1. mottle

an irregular arrangement of patches of color

"it was not dull grey as distance had suggested, but a mottle of khaki and black and olive-green"

"mottle" in the verb sense

1. mottle, streak, blotch

mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained

2. mottle, dapple, cloud

colour with streaks or blotches of different shades

Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)

Princeton University "About WordNet®."
WordNet®. Princeton University. 2010.

View WordNet® License