smash
- to break to pieces with violence and often with a crashing sound, as by striking, letting fall, or dashing against something; shatter: He smashed the vase against the wall.
- to defeat, disappoint, or disillusion utterly.
- to hit or strike (someone or something) with force.
- to overthrow or destroy something considered as harmful: They smashed the drug racket.
- to ruin financially: The depression smashed him.
- Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis. to hit (a ball or shuttlecock) overhead or overhand with a hard downward motion, causing the shot to move very swiftly and to strike the ground or table usually at a sharp angle.
- to break to pieces from a violent blow or collision.
- to dash with a shattering or crushing force or with great violence; crash (usually followed by against, into, through, etc.).
- to become financially ruined or bankrupt (often followed by up).
- to flatten and compress the signatures of a book in a press before binding.
- the act or an instance of smashing or shattering.
- the sound of such a smash.
- a blow, hit, or slap.
- a destructive collision, as between automobiles.
- a smashed or shattered condition.
- a process or state of collapse, ruin, or destruction: the total smash that another war would surely bring.
- financial failure or ruin.
- Informal. smash hit.
- a drink made of brandy, or other liquor, with sugar, water, mint, and ice.
- Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis.
- an overhead or overhand stroke in which the ball or shuttlecock is hit with a hard, downward motion causing it to move very swiftly and to strike the ground or table usually at a sharp angle.
- a ball hit with such a stroke.
- of, relating to, or constituting a great success: That composer has written many smash tunes.
Origin of smash
Synonyms for smash
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comSynonym study
Related Words for smash
demolish, trash, crash, burst, shatter, collide, crush, bang, slam, fracture, crack, hit, blast, belt, topple, wreck, disrupt, overturn, raze, disasterExamples from the Web for smash
Contemporary Examples of smash
Sid Vicious is stomping all over Steve Jones, about to smash in his guitar (again).
‘All Good Cretins Go to Heaven’: Dee Dee Ramone’s Twisted Punk PaintingsMelissa Leon
December 15, 2014
At the end of the session, when we listened back to all we had laid down that day, I was sure I had a smash hit.
When Gary Wright Met George Harrison: Dream Weaver, John and Yoko, and MoreGary Wright
September 29, 2014
Think sexual liberation, 1970s groups like the Gay Liberation Front, and slogans like “Smash the church/Smash the state.”
Every aspiring DJ could smash and grab himself a mixer and some turntables.
Then there were those songs that were either too half-baked or half-hearted to even fool us into turning them into smash hits.
Historical Examples of smash
I am sorry he made such a smash at last, but it is all that could be expected.
Life in LondonEdwin Hodder
Don't go to smash, Dick, just at the beginning of your life.
Within the LawMarvin Dana
You'll be joggled in this crowd, an' break 'em all to smash.
Meadow GrassAlice Brown
I felt an absurd desire to smash it, for the impudent thing had been running all the while.
City of Endless NightMilo Hastings
Ask your sister to marry me first, and smash you up afterwards.
Roden's CornerHenry Seton Merriman
smash
- to break into pieces violently and usually noisily
- (when intr, foll by against, through, into, etc) to throw or crash (against) vigorously, causing shatteringhe smashed the equipment; it smashed against the wall
- (tr) to hit forcefully and suddenly
- (tr) tennis squash badminton to hit (the ball) fast and powerfully, esp with an overhead stroke
- (tr) to defeat or wreck (persons, theories, etc)
- (tr) to make bankrupt
- (intr) to collide violently; crash
- (intr often foll by up) to go bankrupt
- smash someone's face in informal to beat someone severely
- an act, instance, or sound of smashing or the state of being smashed
- a violent collision, esp of vehicles
- a total failure or collapse, as of a business
- tennis squash badminton a fast and powerful overhead stroke
- informal
- something having popular success
- (in combination)smash-hit
- slang loose change; coins
- with a smash
Word Origin for smash
Word Origin and History for smash
1759, "break to pieces," earlier "kick downstairs" (c.1700), probably of imitative origin (cf. smack (v.), mash (v.), crush (v.)). Meaning "act with crushing force" is from 1813; that of "strike violently" is from 1835. Tennis sense is from 1882. Smash-and-grab (adj.) is first attested 1927.
1725, "hard blow," from smash (v.). Meaning "broken-up condition" is from 1798; that of "failure, financial collapse" is from 1839. Tennis sense is from 1882. Meaning "great success" is from 1923 ("Variety" headline, Oct. 16, in reference to Broadway productions of "The Fool" and "The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly").