smoke
the visible vapor and gases given off by a burning or smoldering substance, especially the gray, brown, or blackish mixture of gases and suspended carbon particles resulting from the combustion of wood, peat, coal, or other organic matter.
something resembling this, as vapor or mist, flying particles, etc.
something unsubstantial, evanescent, or without result: Their hopes and dreams proved to be smoke.
an obscuring condition: the smoke of controversy.
an act or spell of smoking something, especially tobacco: They had a smoke during the intermission.
something for smoking, as a cigar or cigarette: This is the best smoke on the market.
Slang. marijuana.
Slang. a homemade drink consisting of denatured alcohol and water.
Physics, Chemistry. a system of solid particles suspended in a gaseous medium.
a bluish or brownish gray color.
to give off or emit smoke, as in burning.
to give out smoke offensively or improperly, as a stove.
to send forth steam or vapor, dust, or the like.
to draw into the mouth and puff out the smoke of tobacco or the like, as from a pipe or cigarette.
Slang. to ride or travel with great speed.
Australian.
to flee.
to abscond.
to draw into the mouth and puff out the smoke of: to smoke tobacco.
to use (a pipe, cigarette, etc.) in this process.
to expose to smoke.
to fumigate (rooms, furniture, etc.).
to cure (meat, fish, etc.) by exposure to smoke.
to color or darken by smoke.
smoke out,
to drive from a refuge by means of smoke.
to force into public view or knowledge; reveal: to smoke out the leaders of the spy ring.
Idioms about smoke
go up / end in smoke, to terminate without producing a result; be unsuccessful: All our dreams went up in smoke.
Origin of smoke
1Other words from smoke
- smokelike, adjective
- an·ti·smoke, adjective, noun
- un·smoked, adjective
- un·smok·ing, adjective
Words Nearby smoke
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use smoke in a sentence
The 491,000-acre August Complex Fire is now the largest blaze in state history, and statewide, a total of more than 3 million acres have gone up in smoke, a record area for a single year.
“Unprecedented”: What’s behind the California, Oregon, and Washington wildfires | Umair Irfan | September 11, 2020 | VoxI am constantly wondering if the tightness in my chest is panic or rage or virus or smoke.
When a shot is fired, it’s the bang that is heard, the smoke that is felt.
The Rise of American Militias, From Timothy McVeigh to Kyle Rittenhouse | Nick Fouriezos | September 6, 2020 | OzyThe fires fueled huge thunderclouds, which drew between 300,000 and 900,000 metric tons of smoke into the stratosphere — more smoke than any known inferno.
Here’s the summer science you might have missed | Janet Raloff | September 1, 2020 | Science News For StudentsMaybe there’s too much smog that day from agricultural emissions in the Central Valley, or even too many locals complain that they don’t like smoke.
They Know How to Prevent Megafires. Why Won’t Anybody Listen? | by Elizabeth Weil | August 28, 2020 | ProPublica
When it comes to the increasing number of rape allegations leveled at Bill Cosby, the smoke is becoming impenetrable.
Butts, Brawls, and Bill Cosby: The Biggest Celebrity Scandals of 2014 | Kevin Fallon | December 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTYou spice it with blues and skiffle music, and pickle it in alcohol and tobacco smoke.
The Greatest Rock Voice of All Time Belonged to Joe Cocker | Ted Gioia | December 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“At least it keeps the mosquitoes away,” one of my table-mates said, as we watched the swooshes of smoke waft into the Havana sky.
Perhaps the guards at the Guantanamo Bay detention facilities will finally be allowed to smoke cubans, too.
So too does Inherent Vice, which is something like a love letter written in pot smoke to the Gold Coast.
Paul Thomas Anderson: The West Coast’s Scorsese | Nick Schager | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe young men gathered round him and offered him a cigar, which he accepted and began to smoke.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy FayAfter a bit of waiting, Mac decided that the smoke was floating from a certain direction, and we began to edge carefully that way.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairThe smoke from her kitchen fire rose white as she put in dry sumac to give it a start.
The Bondboy | George W. (George Washington) OgdenIn most club card-rooms smoking is not permitted, but at the Pandemonium it is the fashion to smoke everywhere.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3) | Charles James WillsWhen the smoke and dust cleared away nothing stirred on the whole of that piece of ground.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I | Ian Hamilton
British Dictionary definitions for smoke (1 of 2)
/ (sməʊk) /
the product of combustion, consisting of fine particles of carbon carried by hot gases and air
any cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas
the act of smoking tobacco or other substances, esp in a pipe or as a cigarette or cigar
the duration of smoking such substances
informal
a cigarette or cigar
a substance for smoking, such as pipe tobacco or marijuana
something with no concrete or lasting substance: everything turned to smoke
a thing or condition that obscures
any of various colours similar to that of smoke, esp a dark grey with a bluish, yellowish, or greenish tinge
go up in smoke or end up in smoke
to come to nothing
to burn up vigorously
to flare up in anger
(intr) to emit smoke or the like, sometimes excessively or in the wrong place
to draw in on (a burning cigarette, etc) and exhale the smoke
to use tobacco for smoking
(intr) slang to use marijuana for smoking
(tr) to bring (oneself) into a specified state by smoking
(tr) to subject or expose to smoke
(tr) to cure (meat, fish, cheese, etc) by treating with smoke
(tr) to fumigate or purify the air of (rooms, etc)
(tr) to darken (glass, etc) by exposure to smoke
(intr) slang to move, drive, ride, etc, very fast
(tr) obsolete to tease or mock
(tr) archaic to suspect or detect
Origin of smoke
1- See also smoke out
Derived forms of smoke
- smokable or smokeable, adjective
British Dictionary definitions for Smoke (2 of 2)
/ (sməʊk) /
the Smoke short for Big Smoke
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
Scientific definitions for smoke
[ smōk ]
A mixture of carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases, usually containing particles of soot or other solids, produced by the burning of carbon-containing materials such as wood and coal.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Other Idioms and Phrases with smoke
In addition to the idiom beginning with smoke
- smoke out
also see:
- chain smoker
- go up in flames (smoke)
- holy cow (smoke)
- no smoke without fire
- watch one's dust (smoke)
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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