[stip.ple] vt stip.pled ; stip.pling [D stippelen to spot, dot] (ca. 1762) 1: to engrave by means of dots and flicks
2. a: to make by small short touches (as of paint or ink) that together produce an even or softly graded shadow b: to apply (as paint) by repeated small touches
3: speckle, fleck -- stip.pler n
[2]stipple n (1837): production of gradation of light and shade in graphic art by stippling small points, larger dots, or longer strokes; also: an effect produced in this way