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smack

1
[ smak ]
/ smæk /
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See synonyms for: smack / smacked / smacking on Thesaurus.com

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

1
First 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

2
First 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

3
First recorded in 1605–15, smack is from the Dutch word smak

Other definitions for smack (4 of 4)

smack4
[ smak ]
/ smæk /

noun Slang.

Origin of smack

4
First 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. 2023

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)

smack3
/ (smæk) /

noun
a slang word for heroin

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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