smite

[ smahyt ]

/ smaɪt /

|||

verb (used with object), smote or (Obsolete) smit; smit·ten or smit; smit·ing.

to strike or hit hard, with or as with the hand, a stick, or other weapon: She smote him on the back with her umbrella.

to deliver or deal (a blow, hit, etc.) by striking hard.

to strike down, injure, or slay: His sword had smitten thousands.

to afflict or attack with deadly or disastrous effect: smitten by polio.

to affect mentally or morally with a sudden pang: His conscience smote him.

to affect suddenly and strongly with a specified feeling: They were smitten with terror.

to impress favorably; charm; enamor: He was smitten by her charms.

verb (used without object), smote or (Obsolete) smit; smit·ten or smit; smit·ing.

to strike; deal a blow.

Nearby words

Idioms

smite hip and thigh. hip¹(def 9).

Origin of smite

before 900; Middle English smiten, Old English smītan; cognate with German schmeissen to throw, Dutch smijten

SYNONYMS FOR smite

1 knock, cuff, buffet, slap.

Related formssmit·er, noun

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

Examples from the Web for smiter

And He said, 'When thou art smitten on one cheek, turn the other to the smiter.'
The House of Walderne|A. D. Crake
He was turning in a very literal sense his cheek to the smiter.
The Squire's Daughter|Silas K(itto) Hocking
You and your charity and your loving-kindness, and your turning the cheek to the smiter and all the rest of it.
Bye-Ways|Robert Smythe Hichens
Hitherto a shameful state of peace had left women in the hands of men, turning over the other cheek to the smiter.
A Bed of Roses|W. L. George

Did I not with these eyes see the sword uplifted and the smiter strike?
The Disowned, Complete|Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for smiter

smite

/ (smaɪt) /

verb smites, smiting, smote, smitten or smit (mainly tr) mainly archaic

to strike with a heavy blow or blows

to damage with or as if with blows

to afflict or affect severelysmitten with flu

to afflict in order to punish

(intr foll by on) to strike forcibly or abruptlythe sun smote down on him

Derived Formssmiter, noun

Word Origin for smite

Old English smītan; related to Old High German smīzan to smear, Gothic bismeitan, Old Swedish smēta to daub

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 smiter

smite

"to hit, strike, beat," mid-12c., from Old English smitan, which however is attested only as "to daub, smear on; soil, pollute, blemish, defile" (strong verb, past tense smat, past participle smiten), from Proto-Germanic *smitan (cf. Swedish smita, Danish smide "to smear, fling," Old Frisian smita, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch smiten "to cast, fling," Dutch smijten "to throw," Old High German smizan "to rub, strike," German schmeißen "to cast, fling," Gothic bismeitan "to spread, smear"). "The development of the various senses is not quite clear, but that of throwing is perh. the original one" [OED]. Watkins suggests "the semantic channel may have been slapping mud on walls in wattle and daub construction" and connects it with PIE *sme- "to smear;" Klein's sources also say this.

Sense of "slay in combat" (c.1300) is from Biblical expression smite to death, first attested c.1200. Meaning "visit disastrously" is mid-12c., also Biblical. Meaning "strike with passion or emotion" is from c.1300.