smack

[smak]

noun

a taste or flavor, especially a slight flavor distinctive or suggestive of something: The chicken had just a smack of garlic.

a trace, touch, or suggestion of something.

a taste, mouthful, or small quantity.

verb (used without object)

to have a taste, flavor, trace, or suggestion: Your politeness smacks of condescension.

Origin of smack

before 1000; (noun) Middle English smacke, Old English smæc; cognate with Middle Low German smak, German Geschmack taste; (v.) Middle English smacken to perceive by taste, have a (specified) taste, derivative of the noun; compare German schmacken

Synonyms for smack

1. savor. 2. hint. 4. taste, suggest.

smack

[smak]

verb (used with object)

to strike sharply, especially with the open hand or a flat object.

to drive or send with a sharp, resounding blow or stroke: to smack a ball over a fence.

to close and open (the lips) smartly so as to produce a sharp sound, often as a sign of relish, as in eating.

to kiss with or as with a loud sound.

verb (used without object)

to smack the lips.

to collide, come together, or strike something forcibly.

to make a sharp sound as of striking against something.

noun

a sharp, resounding blow, especially with something flat.

a smacking of the lips, as in relish or anticipation.

a resounding or loud kiss.

adverb Informal.

suddenly and violently: He rode smack up against the side of the house.

directly; straight: The street runs smack into the center of town.

Verb Phrases

smack down, Slang. to humble (an arrogant person); rebuke or criticize severely.

Origin of smack

1550–60; imitative; compare Dutch, Low German smakken, German (dial.) schmacken

smack

[smak]

noun

Eastern U.S. a fishing vessel, especially one having a well for keeping the catch alive.

British. any of various small, fully decked, fore-and-aft-rigged vessels used for trawling or coastal trading.

Origin of smack

First recorded in 1605–15, smack is from the Dutch word smak

smack

⁴

[smak]

noun Slang.

heroin.

Origin of smack

⁴

1960–65; probably special use of smack¹; compare earlier slang schmeck with same sense (< Yiddish shmek sniff, whiff; compare Middle High German smecken (German schmecken) to taste)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for smacks

squarely, bang, sharp, straight, right, square, plumb, blow, box, spank, tap, buffet, pat, sock, punch, slap, chop, blip, cuff, clout

Examples from the Web for smacks

Contemporary Examples of smacks

In the video, Solange smacks and kicks her brother-in-law while Beyonce DOESN'T EVEN FLINCH.
Solange Smacks Jay Z, Legolas Slaps Bieber, and the Biggest Celebrity Feuds of the Year
Amy Zimmerman
December 24, 2014
To many of us, that smacks of censorship, the highest offense to our pride in self-publicity.
On Torture, Chuck Johnson & Sondheim
James Poulos
December 13, 2014
About the only thing nearby that smacks of politics is an adjacent pop-up Halloween costume store.
Mystery Man Buys Kentucky for the GOP
Center for Public Integrity
October 29, 2014
One thing to be strenuously avoided is anything that smacks of glorifying the act itself.
'Genie, You're Free': Suicide Is Not Liberation
Russell Saunders
August 12, 2014
He winks, smacks his lips and frantically drains the go-cup.
The Stacks: The Neville Brothers Stake Their Claim as Bards of the Bayou
John Ed Bradley
April 27, 2014

Historical Examples of smacks

The smacks made her hands red, for as yet she was not up to the trick.
Nana, The Miller's Daughter, Captain Burle, Death of Olivier Becaille
Emile Zola
I envy you what smacks of a race, a name, an ancestry, a lineage.
Lord Kilgobbin
Charles Lever
"This smacks of Turkish rather than of European rule," said the youth.
The Fortunes Of Glencore
Charles James Lever
The smacks pained, and the words "'Purim' presents" gnawed at my brain.
Jewish Children
Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich
I got blows and thumps and smacks and whacks and pinches and kicks from all sides.
Jewish Children
Sholem Naumovich Rabinovich

British Dictionary definitions for smacks

smack

noun

a smell or flavour that is distinctive though faint

a distinctive trace or touchthe smack of corruption

a small quantity, esp a mouthful or taste

verb (intr foll by of)

to have the characteristic smell or flavour (of something)to smack of the sea

to have an element suggestive (of something)his speeches smacked of bigotry

Word Origin for smack

Old English smæc; related to Old High German smoc, Icelandic smekkr a taste, Dutch smaak

smack

verb

(tr) to strike or slap smartly, with or as if with the open hand

to strike or send forcibly or loudly or to be struck or sent forcibly or loudly

to open and close (the lips) loudly, esp to show pleasure

(tr) to kiss noisily

noun

a sharp resounding slap or blow with something flat, or the sound of such a blow

a loud kiss

a sharp sound made by the lips, as in enjoyment

have a smack at informal, mainly British to attempt

smack in the eye informal, mainly British a snub or setback

adverb informal

directly; squarely

with a smack; sharply and unexpectedly

Word Origin for smack

C16: from Middle Low German or Middle Dutch smacken, probably of imitative origin

smack

noun

a slang word for heroin

Word Origin for smack

C20: perhaps from Yiddish schmeck

smack

⁴

noun

a sailing vessel, usually sloop-rigged, used in coasting and fishing along the British coast

a fishing vessel equipped with a well for keeping the catch alive

Word Origin for smack

C17: from Low German smack or Dutch smak, of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for smacks

smack

n.1

"a taste, flavor, savor" especially a slight flavor that suggests something, from Old English smæc "taste; scent, odor," from Proto-Germanic *smak- (cf. Old Frisian smek, Middle Dutch smæck, Dutch smaak, Old High German smac, German Geschmack, Swedish smak, Danish smag), from a Germanic and Baltic root *smeg- meaning "to taste" (cf. Lithuanian smaguriai "dainties," smagus "pleasing"). Meaning "a trace (of something)" is attested from 1530s.

smack

v.1

"make a sharp noise with the lips," 1550s, probably of imitative origin (see smack (v.2)). With adverbial force, "suddenly, directly," from 1782; extended form smack-dab is attested from 1892, American English colloquial (slap-dab is from 1886).

smack

n.3

single-masted sailboat, 1610s, probably from Dutch or Low German smak "sailboat," perhaps from smakken "to fling, dash" (see smack (v.2)), perhaps so-called from the sound made by its sails. French semaque, Spanish zumaca, Italian semacca probably are Germanic borrowings.

smack

n.4

"heroin," 1942, American English slang, probably an alteration of schmeck "a drug," especially heroin (1932), from Yiddish schmeck "a sniff."

smack

v.2

"to slap a flat surface with the hand," 1835, from smack (n.) in this sense; perhaps influenced by Low German smacken "to strike, throw," which is likely of imitative origin (cf. Swedish smak "slap," Middle Low German smacken, Frisian smakke, Dutch smakken "to fling down," Lithuanian smagiu "to strike, knock down, whip").

smack

v.3

mid-13c., "to smell (something"); mid-14c., "to taste (something), perceive by taste" (transitive); late 14c. "to have a taste, taste of" (intransitive), from smack (n.1). Cf. Old English smæccan "to taste," Old Frisian smakia Middle Dutch smaecken, Old High German smakken "have a savor, scent, or taste," German schmecken "taste, try, smell, perceive." Sometimes also smatch. Now mainly in verbal figurative use smacks of ... (first attested 1590s). "Commonly but erroneously regarded as identical with [smack (n.2)], as if 'taste' proceeds from 'smacking the lips.'" [Century Dictionary]

smack

n.2

"smart, sharp sound made by the lips," 1560s, from smack (v.1). Meaning "a loud kiss" is recorded from c.1600. Meaning "sharp sound made by hitting something with the flat of the hand" is from c.1746.

smacks in Medicine

smack

[smăk]

n.

Heroin.