smutch
Americanverb (used with object)
noun
-
a smudge or stain.
-
dirt, grime, or smut.
verb
noun
-
a mark; smudge
-
soot; dirt
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of smutch
1520–30; perhaps < Middle High German smutzen to smear; compare German Schmutz smut
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She hadn’t done anything to me, and the smutch of the mud against her blue gown — the prettiest dress I ever saw.
From "Good Masters! Sweet Ladies!: Voices from a Medieval Village" by Laura Amy Schlitz
Strether felt HIS character receive for the instant a smutch from all the wrong things he had suspected or believed.
From The Ambassadors by Henry James
In his address to the courteous reader he expresses his apprehensions that “some will smutch his labours with a scorne of his profession.”
From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Mark Antony Lower
They were alert, well-muscled; their faces were streaked with paleness and a black smutch like dancers made up for a masquerade.
From Tramping on Life An Autobiographical Narrative by Harry Kemp
So she played with them as with puppies that might gambol around her, and fawn before her, but might not smutch her robes with their dirty feet, or get the opportunity to bite her hand.
From Sevenoaks by J. G. (Josiah Gilbert) Holland
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
