smash-up

[smash-uhp]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR smash-up ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a complete smash, especially a wreck of one or more vehicles.

Origin of smash-up

1855–60, Americanism; noun use of verb phrase smash up

smash

[smash]

verb (used with object)

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.

verb (used without object)

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.

noun

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.

adjective

of, relating to, or constituting a great success: That composer has written many smash tunes.

Origin of smash

1690–1700; perhaps blend of smack² and mash¹

Related formssmash·a·ble, adjective

Synonyms for smash

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR smash ON THESAURUS.COM

5. bankrupt. 11. crash.

Synonym study

1. See break.

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

Related Words for smash-up

disaster, burst, slam, blow, downfall, wreck, breakup, ruin, breaking, sock, boom, crack, wham, whack, breakdown, crash, collapse, failure, bang, wallop

Examples from the Web for smash-up

Contemporary Examples of smash-up

Which means that they do a smash-up job of planning that extra special, over-the-top anniversary or birthday extravaganza.
The Problem With Libertarian Women is Not Libertarian Men
Megan McArdle
January 8, 2013

Historical Examples of smash-up

Then came the smash-up at Avonmouth, and my mother liked them less and less.
The Stark Munro Letters
J. Stark Munro
Why, the smash-up of the Sisters' title,—didn't you hear that?
Susy, A Story of the Plains
Bret Harte
In this case there was a "smash-up," for Tom James was not always sleeping and drinking.
The Magnificent Montez
Horace Wyndham
As they learned later a defective rail had caused the smash-up.
The Motor Boys on the Atlantic
Clarence Young
Not many could have been in a smash-up like that and come out unharmed.
The Forest of Mystery
James H. Foster

British Dictionary definitions for smash-up

smash-up

noun

a bad collision, esp of cars

verb smash up

(tr, adverb) to damage to the point of complete destructionthey smashed the place up

smash

verb

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

noun

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

adverb

with a smash

Word Origin for smash

C18: probably from sm (ack ² + m) ash

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 smash-up

"collision," 1841, from verbal phrase; see smash (v.) + up (adv.).

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.

smash

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").