smeddum
Britishnoun
-
any fine powder
-
spirit or mettle; vigour
Etymology
Origin of smeddum
Old English smedema fine flour
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But with a little smeddum, or spirit, Scots could be saved – and celebrated.
From The Guardian
No, thank ye, Mr Jones," replied the latter; "my dancin days are weel aboot owre now; but, though the flesh is weak, the spirit's willin, and, to mak mysel as guid company as possible, I'll tak a screed o' the fiddle an ye like; for I'm mair souple aboot the elbows than the ankles now-a-days, and, besides, I dinna think that fallow puts the richt smeddum in his tunes.
From Project Gutenberg
He'll want smeddum and manly discipline; that's the stuff to make the soldier.
From Project Gutenberg
Ye micht hae smeddum enough to say Mester Bowden, or Alexander Bowden.
From Project Gutenberg
They were baith bred to mainers by the beuk, and onie ane o’ them had as muckle smeddum and rumblegumtion as the half o’ some presbytries that you and I baith ken.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
