smock

[ smok ]

/ smɒk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR smock ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a loose, lightweight overgarment worn to protect the clothing while working.

verb (used with object)

to clothe in a smock.

to draw (a fabric) by needlework into a honeycomb pattern with diamond-shaped recesses.

Nearby words

Origin of smock

before 1000; Middle English (noun), Old English smocc; orig. name for a garment with a hole for the head; compare Old Norse smjūga to put on (a garment) over the head

Related formssmock·like, adjectiveun·smocked, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for smock

His signature blue jacket is a Parisian street sweeper's smock purchased on his semi-annual trips to Paris.
Knowing Bill Cunningham|Philip Gefter|March 22, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Merritt Wever is adorable and believable as Zoey, a nervous first-year nursing student so callow she has bunnies on her smock.
'Nurse Jackie' Will Make You Feel Better|Caryn James|June 7, 2009|DAILY BEAST
She is in her smock, man, and were it not for the balusters I deem ye should see her barefoot.
The Wood Beyond the World|William Morris
It was Kenny in a painter's smock intent upon a palette, vividly, whimsically, delightfully Kenny.
Kenny|Leona Dalrymple

If thou wer't as naked as thou wer't born, thou should'st not stay to put on a Smock.
The Busie Body|Susanna Centlivre
He wore a yokel's smock much too big for him, and yet not big enough to hide his bespurred riding-boots.
The Yeoman Adventurer|George W. Gough
This condition was due in a large measure, no doubt, to the fact that Smock's Creek is an unusually swift little stream.
Anderson Crow, Detective|George Barr McCutcheon

British Dictionary definitions for smock

smock

/ (smɒk) /

noun

any loose protective garment, worn by artists, laboratory technicians, etc

a woman's loose blouse-like garment, reaching to below the waist, worn over slacks, etc

Also called: smock frock a loose protective overgarment decorated with smocking, worn formerly esp by farm workers

archaic a woman's loose undergarment, worn from the 16th to the 18th centuries

verb

to ornament (a garment) with smocking

Derived Formssmocklike, adjective

Word Origin for smock

Old English smocc; related to Old High German smocco, Old Norse smokkr blouse, Middle High German gesmuc decoration

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 smock

smock

Old English smoc "garment worn by women, corresponding to the shirt on men," from Proto-Germanic *smukkaz (cf. Old Norse smokkr "a smock," but this is perhaps from Old English; Old High German smoccho "smock," a rare word; North Frisian smok "woman's shift," but this, too, perhaps from English).

Klein's sources, Barnhart and the OED see this as connected to a group of Germanic sm- words having to do with creeping or pressing close, e.g. Old Norse smjuga "to creep (through an opening), to put on (a garment)," smuga "narrow cleft to creep through; small hole;" Old Swedish smog "a round hole for the head;" Old English smugan, smeogan "to creep," smygel "a burrow." Cf. also German schmiegen "to cling to, press close, nestle;" and Schmuck "jewelry, adornments," from schmucken "to adorn," literally "to dress up."

Watkins, however, traces it to a possible Germanic base *(s)muk- "wetness," figuratively "slipperiness," from PIE root*meug- "slimy, slippery" (see mucus). Either way, the original notion, then, seems generally to have been "garment one creeps or slips into," by the same pattern that produced sleeve and slip (n.2).

Now replaced by euphemistic shift (n.2); smock was the common word down to 18c., and was emblematic of womanhood generally, cf. verb smock "to render (a man) effeminate or womanish" (1610s); smocker "man who consorts with women" (18c.); smock-face "person having a pale, effeminate face" (c.1600). A smock-race (1707) was an old country pastime, a foot-race for women and girls with a smock as a prize. Modern meaning "woman's or child's loose dress or blouse" is from 1907; sense of "loose garment worn by artists over other clothes" is from 1938.

smock

noun

verb (used with object)

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of smock

Examples from the Web for smock

smock

noun

verb

Word Origin for smock

smock