smack
1[ smak ]
/ smæk /
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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.
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Origin of smack
1First recorded before 1000; (noun) Middle English smacke, Old English smæc; cognate with Middle Low German smak, German Geschmack “taste”; (verb) Middle English smacken “to perceive by taste, have a (specified) taste,” derivative of the noun; compare German schmacken
Other definitions for smack (2 of 4)
Origin of smack
2First recorded in 1550–60; imitative; compare Dutch, Low German smakken, German (dialectal) schmacken
Other definitions for smack (3 of 4)
smack3
[ smak ]
/ smæk /
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
3First recorded in 1605–15, smack is from the Dutch word smak
Other definitions for smack (4 of 4)
Origin of smack
4First recorded in 1960–65; probably special use of smack1; compare earlier slang schmeck with same sense (from 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. 2022
How to use smack in a sentence
British Dictionary definitions for smack (1 of 4)
smack1
/ (smæk) /
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
British Dictionary definitions for smack (2 of 4)
smack2
/ (smæk) /
verb
noun
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
British Dictionary definitions for smack (3 of 4)
Word Origin for smack
C20: perhaps from Yiddish schmeck
British Dictionary definitions for smack (4 of 4)
smack4
/ (smæk) /
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
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Medical definitions for smack
smack
[ smăk ]
n.
Heroin.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.