smokestack

American  

[smohk-stak] / ˈsmoʊkˌstæk /

noun

1. Also called stack.  a pipe for the escape of the smoke or gases of combustion, as on a steamboat, locomotive, or building.

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adjective

1. pertaining to, engaged in, or dependent on a basic heavy industry, as steel or automaking.

   smokestack companies.

smokestack British  

/ ˈsməʊkˌstæk /

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: stack.  a tall chimney that conveys smoke into the air

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Etymology

Origin of smokestack

First recorded in 1855–60; smoke + stack

Example Sentences

The helicopter continued on to Kendra, where the smokestacks of a paper mill normally puffed gray clouds into the sky, twenty-four hours a day.

From Literature

In nearly 130 years, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has evolved from its origins as a list of “smokestack” raw-materials and industrial businesses to its modern-day inclusion of cloud computing and semiconductor giants.

From The Wall Street Journal

I sit for several minutes, frustration rising into my smokestack of a brain.

From Literature

Farther off, whales blew jets of water from their blowholes like smoke from the smokestack of a Bloomer steam locomotive.

From Literature

As a child, he had a view of Fletcher Oil Co.’s towering smokestacks from his frontyard.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• industrialized
• mechanical
• modern
• technical