smack
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From Middle English smac, smak, smacke, from Old English smæc, smæċċ (“taste, smatch”), from Proto-Germanic *smakkuz (“a taste”), from Proto-Indo-European *smegʰ-, *smeg- (“to taste”). Cognate with English dialectal smatch, Scots smak (“scent, smell, taste, flavour”), Saterland Frisian Smoak (“taste”), West Frisian smaak (“taste”), Dutch smaak (“taste”), German Schmack, Geschmack (“taste”), Swedish and Norwegian smak (“taste”), Norwegian smekke . Akin to Old English smæccan (“to taste, smack”). More at smake, smatch.
Noun
smack (countable and uncountable, plural smacks)
- A distinct flavor, especially if slight.
- rice pudding with a smack of cinnamon
- A slight trace of something; a smattering.
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
- He was not sailorly, and yet he had a smack of the sea about him too.
- 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
- (slang, uncountable) Heroin.
Derived terms
Translations
Verb
smack (third-person singular simple present smacks, present participle smacking, simple past and past participle smacked)
- (transitive) To get the flavor of.
- 1827, Thomas Carlyle (translator), Johann August Musæus, "Melechsala" (1782-86); in German Romance I. 175
- He soon smacked the taste of physic hidden in this sweetness.
- 1827, Thomas Carlyle (translator), Johann August Musæus, "Melechsala" (1782-86); in German Romance I. 175
- (intransitive) To indicate or suggest something; used with of.
- Her reckless behavior smacks of pride.
- (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- All sects, all ages, smack of this vice.
- (intransitive) To have a particular taste; used with of.
- 1820-25, Charles Lamb, Essays of Elia
- He had his tea and hot rolls in a morning, while we were battening upon our quarter-of-a-penny loaf — our crug — moistened with attenuated small beer, in wooden piggings, smacking of the pitched leathern jack it was poured from.
- 1820-25, Charles Lamb, Essays of Elia
Derived terms
Etymology 2
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/39/Brooklyn_Museum_-_Calm_in_Gloucester_Harbor_-_Carlton_Theodore_Chapman_-_overall.jpg/150px-Brooklyn_Museum_-_Calm_in_Gloucester_Harbor_-_Carlton_Theodore_Chapman_-_overall.jpg)
From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Middle Low German smack (Low German Schmacke, Schmaake (“small ship”)) or (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Dutch smak.
Noun
smack (plural smacks)
- A small sailing vessel, commonly rigged as a sloop, used chiefly in the coasting and fishing trade and often called a fishing smack
- A group of jellyfish.
Translations
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Etymology 3
From or akin to Dutch smakken (“to fling down”), (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Plautdietsch schmaksen (“to smack the lips”), regional German schmacken, Schmackes (“vigour”) (compare Swedish smak (“slap”), Middle Low German smacken, the first part of Saterland Frisian smakmuulje (“smack”)).
Noun
smack (plural smacks)
- A sharp blow; a slap. See also: spank.
- A loud kiss.
- (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- a clamorous smack
- (Can we date this quote by Shakespeare and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- A quick, sharp noise, as of the lips when suddenly separated, or of a whip.
Translations
Verb
smack (third-person singular simple present smacks, present participle smacking, simple past and past participle smacked)
- To slap someone.
- To make a smacking sound.
- (Can we date this quote by Benjamin Disraeli and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- A horse neighed, and a whip smacked, there was a whistle, and the sound of a cart wheel.
- (Can we date this quote by Benjamin Disraeli and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)
- (New Zealand) To strike a child (usually on the buttocks) as a form of discipline. (US spank)
- To wetly separate the lips, making a noise, after tasting something or in expectation of a treat.
- 1763, Robert Lloyd, “A Familiar Epistle” in St. James Magazine:
- But when, obedient to the mode / Of panegyric, courtly ode / The bard bestrides, his annual hack, / In vain I taste, and sip and smack, / I find no flavour of the Sack.
- 1763, Robert Lloyd, “A Familiar Epistle” in St. James Magazine:
- To kiss with a close compression of the lips, so as to make a sound when they separate.
Translations
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Adverb
smack (not comparable)
- As if with a smack or slap; smartly; sharply.
- Right smack bang in the middle.
Derived terms
Anagrams
Swedish
Noun
smack n
- (in the phrase "inte ett smack") smidgeon, piece, small bit
See also
Anagrams
- English 1-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/æk
- English terms inherited from Middle English
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- New Zealand English
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- en:Recreational drugs
- Swedish lemmas
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