smutch

American  

[smuhch] / smʌtʃ /

verb (used with object)

1. to smudge or soil.

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noun

1. a smudge or stain.

2. dirt, grime, or smut.

smutch British  

/ smʌtʃ /

verb

1. (tr) to smudge; mark

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noun

1. a mark; smudge

2. soot; dirt

Other Word Forms

• smutchless adjective
• smutchy adjective
• unsmutched adjective

Etymology

Origin of smutch

1520–30; perhaps < Middle High German smutzen to smear; compare German Schmutz smut

Example Sentences

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

You do not ken me for the thing I am: If you but guessed, you’d fling the door wide open, And draw your petticoats about you tight, Lest any draggletail of mine should smutch them.

From Krindlesyke by Gibson, Wilfrid Wilson

She was minus the dust-cap and the ruffled apron, but she had a dab of flour on the left cheek, and a smutch of crock on her forehead.

From Miss Billy — Married by Porter, Eleanor H. (Eleanor Hodgman)

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