smudge
a dirty mark or smear.
a smeary state.
a stifling smoke.
a smoky fire, especially one made for driving away mosquitoes or safeguarding fruit trees from frost.
to mark with dirty streaks or smears.
to fill with smudge, as to drive away insects or protect fruit trees from frost.
to form a smudge on something.
to become smudged: White shoes smudge easily.
to smolder or smoke; emit smoke, as a smudge pot.
Origin of smudge
1Other words from smudge
- smudg·ed·ly, adverb
- smudgeless, adjective
- un·smudged, adjective
Words Nearby smudge
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use smudge in a sentence
While this is great for finding smudges on the paint, it’s terrible for emphasizing the distance between the walls.
Lighting tricks that will make small rooms feel gigantic | Hugh Neill | September 22, 2021 | Popular-ScienceThe amFilm Tempered Glass Screen Protector is resistant to scratches, smudges, and even liquids without greatly affecting the touchscreen properties of the Switch’s screen.
Level-up leisure time with the best Nintendo Switch accessories | Nicholas Ware | September 22, 2021 | Popular-ScienceZEISS wipes remove smudges from fingerprints, dirt, grime, and bacteria.
Choose the best screen cleaner to fight smudges and grime | Laura Davis | September 20, 2021 | Popular-ScienceTiny drops of sweat create the fingerprint smudges used to identify us.
‘The Joy of Sweat’ will help you make peace with perspiration | Bethany Brookshire | July 13, 2021 | Science NewsOn a recent morning, Mahi had a smudge of baby powder visible on her neck after taking a bath.
These twins are 5 years old. They lost both parents to covid-19. | Joanna Slater | June 17, 2021 | Washington Post
Dylan has gone for a stroke-and-smudge technique, blurring his pastels to create an atmospheric, out-of-focus, effect.
Bob Dylan: Face Value Opens at London’s National Portrait Gallery | Chloë Ashby | August 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTWhat happened with Broadwell will be seen as a smudge on his record.
Like Jill Kelley, Paula Broadwell Eyes Comeback After Petraeus Scandal | Howard Kurtz | January 23, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAlready the patch of brush in which lay the renegade Policemen was hidden in the smudge, shut away from our sight.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairThe pale glow of light which came from that powder smudge on Carlson's lapel was no longer visible!
High on the left lapel of his dark suit coat was a white smudge made by some sort of powder.
In the dooryard, a dull fire smoked in a tin pan,—a "smudge" to drive off the mosquitoes.
A Yankee from the West | Opie ReadThis produced a grayish smudge, but a second and third application made a good black.
Marjorie's Busy Days | Carolyn Wells
British Dictionary definitions for smudge
/ (smʌdʒ) /
to smear, blur, or soil or cause to do so
(tr) mainly US and Canadian to fill (an area) with smoke in order to drive insects away or guard against frost
a smear or dirty mark
a blurred form or area: that smudge in the distance is a quarry
mainly US and Canadian a smoky fire for driving insects away or protecting fruit trees or plants from frost
Origin of smudge
1Derived forms of smudge
- smudgeless, adjective
- smudgily or smudgedly, adverb
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
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