smoke machine

plural smoke machines

1. A device that emits a dense vapour that appears similar to fog or smoke, used in theatre, film and other applications.

   A thin, reddish gas drifted upward near the musicians. Produced by a secondhand smoke machine bought by Ibn-Zaidoun from an Israeli disco club, it thickened and spread, forming a mist that enveloped the choir and curled around the plain sandals of the nun.

   2003, A. B. Yehoshua, translated by Hillel Halkin, The Liberated Bride, Orlando: Harcourt, Part 6, p. 449

   1 more example

   Al Albergate of the District Attorney’s staff said the task force inquiry into the rumors was mainly based on the assumption that where there’s smoke there’s fire. ¶ “But,” said Mr. Melnick plaintively, “in this business, where there’s smoke, there’s more likely to be a smoke machine.”

   1982 December 12, Aljean Harmetz, “How a Hollywood rumor was born, flourished and died”, in The New York Times

   Synonyms: fogger, fog machine, fog generator