smoke

plural smokes · alternative obsolete smoak

1. uncountableThe visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material.

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   If those were the days, however, when steam was triumphant, they were also the days of smoke. Nowhere was this so apparent as at "Kings Cross (Suburban)" where, one after another, the Great Northern tank engines thumped their way up the incline and emerged from the tunnel, in clouds of steam and smoke, to pound their way up the last few hundred feet of gradient alongside the platform.

   1952 October, C. A. Johns, “One Hundred Years at Kings Cross—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 657

   Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.

   2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29

2. colloquialcountableA cigarette.

   Can I bum a smoke off you?

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   I need to go buy some smokes.

   2019, Idles, "Never Fight a Man With a Perm", Joy as an Act of Resistance. I said I've got a penchant for smokes and kicking douches in the mouth / Sadly for you my last cigarette's gone out

   Synonyms: bine, blem, bogie, boagie, butt, cancerette, cancer stick, boon

3. colloquialuncountableAnything to smoke (e.g. cigarettes, marijuana, etc.)

   Hey, you got some smoke?

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   ERCS Guard: Got a smoke? We're all out.

   2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria

4. colloquialcountablenever pluralAn instance of smoking a cigarette, cigar, etc.; the duration of this act.

   I'm going out for a smoke.

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   I lit a pipe and had a good long smoke, and went on watching.

   1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VII, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC

5. figurativelyuncountableA fleeting illusion; something insubstantial, evanescent, unreal, transitory, or without result.

   The excitement behind the new candidate proved to be smoke.

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   I fed her a lot of smoke about a sheep station outside Adelaide and a big property in the high street with a glass front and ‘Thomas’ in lights. She didn’t believe me.

   1974, John le Carré, chapter 6, in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, New York: Knopf, page 44

6. figurativelyuncountableSomething used to obscure or conceal; an obscuring condition; see also smoke and mirrors.

   The smoke of controversy.

7. uncountableA light grey color tinted with blue.
8. slanguncountableAfrican-American VernacularBother, trouble; problems; hassle.

   You better not be giving me no smoke.

9. Any cloud of solid particles or liquid vapor dispersed into the air; particularly one of:
   1. countableuncountableOpaque aerosol released on a battlefield, used e.g. to signal or to degrade enemy observation via smokescreen.
   2. countableuncountablePollen scattered by a plant.

      A gustful April morn / That puff'd the swaying branches into smoke.

      1869, Alfred Tennyson, Holy Grail, 15

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      There has been a great deal of smoke in the yew-trees this year. One day there was such a cloud that it seemed to be a fire in the shrubbery. […]

      1868, Emily Sarah Sellwood Tennyson, journal entry quoted in 1897, Hallam Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son, page 53

      […] "fruitful cloud and living smoke" of pollen that rises from every spray. The two kinds of flowers are borne on separate trees and the resulting berries are pretty at all stages, and, when ripe, […]

      1903, Mary Rowles Jarvis, The Tree Book, page 33

      […] the "smoke" of pollen is so thick that distant hills look as if they are on fire. The culprit is the male cedar, which bears miniscule golden pine cones that release pollen when they pop open. The female tree produces a[…]

      1998, Diane Capito, Mark Willis, San Antonio on Foot

      […] a smoke of pollen drifts down upon the mat, it is covered and sealed in the ongoing growth of the sphagnum. A dusting of ash from a volcanic eruption halfway around the world becomes incorporated into the time line of its day,[…]

      2001 June 14, David M. Carroll, Swampwalker's Journal: A Wetlands Year, HMH, →ISBN, page 258

   3. countableuncountableMist, fog, or drizzle; water vapour, such as from exhalation into cold air.

      You'll find that one of these days. If there's work ahead you ought to have sense enough not to knock smoke out of fresh horses before we begin.

      1898, Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms: A Story of Life and Adventure in the Bush and in the Goldfields of Australia, page 71

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      […] steeds, whose lowdnes filled the aire with terrour, and whose breathes dimmed the sun with smoake, converted to delicate tunes and amorous glances?

      1858 [1584?], John Lyly, The Dramatic Works of John Lilly, page 110

      […] and a smoke of rain was drifting everywhere. In the thin drizzle the sheep were bleating among the dripping heather, and the birds were chattering and chirming in the shelter of the trees and bushes, and on the top of a sapling larch a[…]

      1901, The Church Standard, page 613

      […] in a smoke of rain and spray on the long grey shore. The cry of curlews. Your footprints filling up with water the moment you make them. […]

      2012 February 14, Robert Nye, Falstaff: A Novel, Skyhorse, →ISBN

10. countableslanguncountableball gamesA fastball.
11. countableA distinct column of smoke, such as indicating a burning area or fire.

    The aerial reconnaissance did see active flame on heavy fuels (logs) and fine fuels (duff/understory), and several smokes.

    2021 May 15, “Guadalupe Mountains National Park Temporarily Closes Backcountry Campsites due to Dog Fire”, in Guadalupe Mountains National Park News Releases

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    When, lo! along the tall Rocky hill-side, a smoke ascends in clouds Like snow-flakes, soaring from the summit up Into the sky.

    1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 87

    Should the commander of one column desire to communicate with the other, he raises three smokes simultaneously, which, if seen by the other party, should be responded to in the same manner.

    1860, Randolph Barnes Marcy, The Prairie and Overland Traveller, page 203

    […] and we could not discern any settlement or any people, but we did see two smokes up-river in some thick groves of oak and cork and willows and other high trees, of a good thickness, resembling ash trees.

    1923, California Historical Society Quarterly, volume 2, page 152

    In the evening haze, even the Calton Gaol took on something of the savage grandeur of a Doré drawing, and this was by no means spoilt by the rising smokes of North British engines in the ravine below.

    1941 January, C. Hamilton Ellis, “The Scottish Station”, in Railway Magazine, page 1

    During the night, a severe lightning storm passed over this area and in the morning the towerman reported two smokes separated by about two miles distance.

    1957, Sylva: The Lands and Forests Review, volumes 13-14, page 43

present singular third person smokes · participle present smoking · past smoked · participle past smoked · nonstandard participle past rare smoken · alternative obsolete smoak

1. transitiveTo inhale and exhale the smoke from a burning cigarette or cigar, burning material in a pipe, etc.

   He's smoking his pipe.

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   Her dad smoked various brands when he was younger.

   Synonyms: have a smoke

2. intransitiveTo inhale and exhale tobacco smoke.

   Do you smoke?

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   He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.

   1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2

   To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

3. intransitiveTo give off smoke.

   My old truck was still smoking even after the repairs.

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   Hard by a cottage chimney smokes.

   1645, John Milton, L'Allegro

   But what struck me most, and at once, was the sharpness, the clear definition of everything-even the distant housetops view across the opposite roofs. And then I noticed that no chimney, large or small, was smoking.

   1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 16

   1. intransitiveOf a fire in a fireplace, to emit smoke outward instead of up the chimney, owing to imperfect draught.
   2. intransitiveOf tobacco: to give off or produce smoke (in a certain manner or of a certain type).

      "Dry tobacco burns even, and therefore smokes cool."

      1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 13

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      "Damp tobacco," said Cripps, eyeing Limpet offensively as he threw down the challenge, "smokes unevenly. You'll admit that to start with."

      1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 12

4. transitiveTo preserve or prepare (food) for consumption by treating with smoke.

   You'll need to smoke the meat for several hours.

5. transitiveTo dry or medicate by smoke.

   After opening one of the hives from the back, he smoked the bees to calm them and to drive the queen toward the front of the hive.

   2019, Thomas D. Seeley, The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild, page 64

6. obsoletetransitiveTo fill or scent with smoke; hence, to fill with incense; to perfume.
7. obsoletetransitiveTo make unclear or blurry.

   Smoke your bits of glass, Ye loyal Swine, or her transfiguration Will blind your wondering eyes.

   1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus; Or, Swellfoot The Tyrant: A Tragedy in Two Acts

8. intransitiveslangTo perform (e.g. music) energetically or skillfully.

   The horn section was really smokin' on that last tune.

9. slangTo beat someone at something; to be very good at something.

   We smoked them at rugby.

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   She's gotta do that song, she outright smokes when she hits the refrain!

   Super Macho Man: 'I DON'T SMOKE... BUT TONIGHT I'M GONNA SMOKE YOU!'

   1987, Punch-Out!!, Nintendo, published 1990, Nintendo Entertainment System, level/area: Super Macho Man

   "He can weasel out if^([sic]) it." Ibanez massaged her knuckles. "He can say Couch welshed on a deal, and didn't show, and that's why Karen got got. It isn't conclusive. I have another thing I can lay on him, but even the two combined won't do. We need a third smoking gun if we're really gonna smoke this son of a bitch."

   2023 September 28, HarryBlank, “Hooking Up”, in SCP Foundation, archived from the original on 25 May 2024

10. slangtransitiveTo snuff out; to kill, especially with a gun.

    He got smoked by the mob.

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    Ordnancemen stenciled bombs with “greetings” on behalf of friends and loved ones back home or slogans playing on beer and cigarette advertisements, like “To Muammar: For all you do, this bomb's for you” or “I'd fly 10,000 miles to smoke a camel.”

    1993, Joseph T. Stanik, "Swift and Effective Retribution": The U.S. Sixth Fleet and the Confrontation with Qaddafi (The U.S. Navy in the Modern World Series; 3), Naval Historical Center

    I had never met my father, and Precious's daddy had gotten smoked before she was even born.

    2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 191

11. obsoleteslangtransitiveTo thrash; to beat.
12. obsoletetransitiveTo smell out; to hunt out; to find out; to detect.

    He was first smoked by the old Lord Lafeu.

    c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene vi]

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    I alone / Smok'd his true person, talk'd with him.

    1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC

    Upon that […] I began to smoke that they were a parcel of mummers.

    1715 May 31 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 44. Friday, May 21. [1715.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], published 1721, →OCLC

    The squire gave him a good curse at his departure; and then turning to the parson, he cried out, "I smoke it: I smoke it. Tom is certainly the father of this bastard. […]

    1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC

13. obsoleteslangtransitiveTo ridicule to the face; to mock.
14. To burn; to be kindled; to rage.

    The anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man.

    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 29:20

15. To raise a dust or smoke by rapid motion.

    Proud of his steeds, he smokes along the field.

    1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC

16. To suffer severely; to be punished.

    Some of you shall smoke for it in Rome.

    c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii]

17. USslangtransitivegovernmentTo punish (a person) for a minor offense by excessive physical exercise.
18. transitiveTo cover (a key blank) with soot or carbon to aid in seeing the marks made by impressioning.

1. The 44th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

1. UKinformalLondon.

   I'm heading down to the Smoke later this week.

1. Synonym of Burmilla.

   Synonyms: Burmilla