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
Snuff them as you see there is need; but touch not their snuff with your white fingers; a little smutch on YOU will be seen a great way.
From Works of John Bunyan — Volume 03 by Bunyan, John
O!" said they, "how sad a smutch on Our clean United Kingdom's 'scutcheon!
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 146, May 20, 1914 by Seaman, Owen, Sir
Rather, it may be, over-much He shunned the common stain and smutch, From soilure of ignoble touch Too grandly free, Too loftily secure in such Cold purity.
From The Poems of William Watson by Watson, William
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 Lower, Mark Antony
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
