smudge

American  

[smuhj] / smʌdʒ /

noun

1. a dirty mark or smear.

2. a smeary state.

3. a stifling smoke.

4. a smoky fire, especially one made for driving away mosquitoes or safeguarding fruit trees from frost.

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verb (used with object)

smudged, smudging

1. to mark with dirty streaks or smears.

2. to fill with smudge, as to drive away insects or protect fruit trees from frost.

verb (used without object)

smudged, smudging

1. to form a smudge on something.

2. to become smudged.

   White shoes smudge easily.

3. to smolder or smoke; emit smoke, as a smudge pot.

smudge British  

/ smʌdʒ /

verb

1. to smear, blur, or soil or cause to do so

2. (tr) to fill (an area) with smoke in order to drive insects away or guard against frost

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noun

1. a smear or dirty mark

2. a blurred form or area

   that smudge in the distance is a quarry

3. a smoky fire for driving insects away or protecting fruit trees or plants from frost

Other Word Forms

• smudgedly adverb
• smudgeless adjective
• smudgily adverb
• unsmudged adjective

Etymology

Origin of smudge

1400–50; late Middle English smogen (v.) < ?

Example Sentences

His skin in the lamplight looked gray, and his eyes had purple smudges beneath them.

From Literature

She wipes a smudge of dirt from Marion’s nose and scrubs lipstick from my teeth with her finger.

From Literature

I wore a threadbare coat that bore grease stains on the arms, and my cheeks were smudged brown with dirt and grime.

From Literature

Anat was back in the jeans and chunky sweater she’d been wearing, but she still had on the face paint, slightly smudged along the collar of her sweater.

From Literature

The workers’ uniforms are smudged with stains earned underneath a car, wrench in hand.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• blacken
• daub
• spatter
• sully