smooth
[smooth]
- free from projections or unevenness of surface; not rough: smooth wood; a smooth road.
- generally flat or unruffled, as a calm sea.
- free from hairs or a hairy growth: a smooth cheek.
- of uniform consistency; free from lumps, as a batter, sauce, etc.
- free from or proceeding without abrupt curves, bends, etc.: a smooth ride.
- allowing or having an even, uninterrupted movement or flow: smooth driving.
- easy and uniform, as motion or the working of a machine.
- having projections worn away: a smooth tire casing.
- free from hindrances or difficulties: a smooth day at the office.
- noting a metal file having the minimum commercial grade of coarseness for a single-cut file.Compare dead-smooth.
- undisturbed, tranquil, or equable, as the feelings, temper, etc.; serene: a smooth disposition.
- elegant, easy, or polished: smooth manners.
- ingratiatingly polite or suave: That salesman is a smooth talker.
- free from harshness, sharpness, or bite; bland or mellow, as cheese or wine.
- not harsh to the ear, as sound: the smooth music of a ballroom dance band.
- Phonetics. without aspiration.
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- in a smooth manner; smoothly.
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- to make smooth of surface, as by scraping, planing, or pressing.
- to remove (projections, ridges, wrinkles, etc.) in making something smooth (often followed by away or out).
- to free from difficulties.
- to remove (obstacles) from a path (often followed by away).
- to make more polished, elegant, or agreeable, as wording or manners.
- to tranquilize, calm, or soothe (a person, the feelings, etc.).
- Mathematics. to simplify (an expression) by substituting approximate or certain known values for the variables.
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- act of smoothing: She adjusted the folds with a smooth of her hand.
- something that is smooth; a smooth part or place: through the rough and the smooth.
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- smooth over, to make seem less severe, disagreeable, or irreconcilable; allay; mitigate: He smoothed over my disappointment with kind words.
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Origin of smooth
before 1050; (adj.) Middle English smothe, late Old English smōth; compare Middle English smethe, Old English smēthe smooth; cognate with Old Saxon smōthi; (v.) late Middle English smothen, derivative of the adj.; replacing Middle English smethen, Old English smēth(i)an
Synonyms
See more synonyms for smooth on Thesaurus.com1. glossy, polished, even, flat. See level.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
smooth over
- (tr) to ease or gloss overto smooth over a situation
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smooth
- resting in the same plane; without bends or irregularities
- silky to the touchsmooth velvet
- lacking roughness of surface; flat
- tranquil or unruffledsmooth temper
- lacking obstructions or difficulties
- suave or persuasive, esp as suggestive of insincerity
- (in combination)smooth-tongued
- (of the skin) free from hair
- of uniform consistencysmooth batter
- not erratic; free from joltssmooth driving
- not harsh or astringenta smooth wine
- having all projections worn awaysmooth tyres
- maths (of a curve) differentiable at every point
- phonetics without preliminary or simultaneous aspiration
- gentle to the ear; flowing
- physics (of a plane, surface, etc) regarded as being frictionless
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- in a calm or even manner; smoothly
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- (also intr often foll by down) to make or become flattened or without roughness or obstructions
- (often foll by out or away) to take or rub (away) in order to make smoothshe smoothed out the creases in her dress
- to make calm; soothe
- to make easiersmooth his path
- electrical engineering to remove alternating current ripple from the output of a direct current power supply
- obsolete to make more polished or refined
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- the smooth part of something
- the act of smoothing
- tennis squash badminton the side of a racket on which the binding strings form a continuous lineCompare rough (def. 27)
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See also smooth over
Word Origin
Old English smōth; related to Old Saxon māthmundi gentle-minded, smōthi smooth
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 smooth over
smooth
adj.
Old English smoð "smooth, serene, calm," variant of smeðe "free from roughness, not harsh, polished; soft; suave; agreeable," of unknown origin and with no known cognates. Of words, looks, "pleasant, polite, sincere" late 14c., but later "flattering, insinuating" (mid-15c.). Slang meaning "superior, classy, clever" is attested from 1893. Sense of "stylish" is from 1922.
Smooth-bore in reference to guns is from 1812. smooth talk (v.) is recorded from 1950. A 1599 dictionary has smoothboots "a flatterer, a faire spoken man, a cunning tongued fellow." The usual Old English form was smeðe, and there is a dialectal smeeth found in places names, e.g. Smithfield, Smedley.
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smooth
v.
late Old English smoþ "to make smooth," replacing smeðan "to smooth, soften, polish; appease, soothe;" smeðian "smoothen, become smooth," from the source of smooth (adj.). Meaning "to make smooth" is c.1200. Related: Smoothed; smoothing. Middle English also had a verb form smoothen (mid-14c.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with smooth over
smooth over
Rid of obstructions or difficulties, as in We tried to smooth things over between the families before the wedding but did not succeed. [Late 1600s]
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smooth
In addition to the idioms beginning with smooth
- smooth as silk
- smooth over
- smooth sailing
also see:
- take the rough with the smooth
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.