Adjacent Words

Smile definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SMILE, v.i.
1. To contract the features of the face in such a manner as to express pleasure, moderate joy, or love and kindness; the contrary to frown. The smiling infant in his hand shall take the crested basilisk and speckled snake. She smil'd to see the doughty hero slain.
2. To express slight contempt by a smiling liik, implying sarcasm or pity; to sneer. 'Twas what I said to Craggs and Child, who prais'd my modesty, and smil'd.
3. To look gay and joyous; or to have an appearance to excite joy; as smiling spring; smiling plenty. The desert smil'd, and paradise was open'd in the wild.
4. To be propitious or favorable; to favor; to countenance. May heaven smile on out labors.
SMILE, v.t. To awe with a contemptuous smile.
SMILE, n,
1. A peculiar contraction of the features of the face, which naturally expresses pleasure, moderate joy, approbation or kindness; opposed to frown. Sweet intercourse of looks and smiles.
2. Gay or joyous appearance; as the smiles of spring.
3. Favor; countenance; propitiousness; as the smiles of providence.
A SMILE OF CONTEMPT, a look resembling that of pleasure, but usually or often it can be distinguished by an accompanying archness, or some glance intended to be understood.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement [syn: smile, smiling, grin, grinning] v
1: change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
2: express with a smile; "She smiled her thanks"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (smiled; smiling) Etymology: Middle English; akin to Old English smerian to laugh, Sanskrit smayate he smiles Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. to have, produce, or exhibit a smile 2. a. to look or regard with amusement or ridicule <smiled at his own folly — Martin Gardner> b. to bestow approval <feeling that Heaven smiled on his labors — Sheila Rowlands> c. to appear pleasant or agreeable transitive verb 1. to affect with or by smiling 2. to express by a smile • smiler noun • smilingly adverb II. noun Date: 15th century 1. a facial expression in which the eyes brighten and the corners of the mouth curve slightly upward and which expresses especially amusement, pleasure, approval, or sometimes scorn 2. a pleasant or encouraging appearance • smileless adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 intr. relax the features into a pleased or kind or gently sceptical expression or a forced imitation of these, usu. with the lips parted and the corners of the mouth turned up. 2 tr. express by smiling (smiled their consent). 3 tr. give (a smile) of a specified kind (smiled a sardonic smile). 4 intr. (foll. by on, upon) adopt a favourable attitude towards; encourage (fortune smiled on me). 5 intr. have a bright or favourable aspect (the smiling countryside). 6 tr. (foll. by away) drive (a person's anger etc.) away (smiled their tears away). 7 intr. (foll. by at) a ridicule or show indifference to (smiled at my feeble attempts). b favour; smile on. 8 tr. (foll. by into, out of) bring (a person) into or out of a specified mood etc. by smiling (smiled them into agreement). --n. 1 the act or an instance of smiling. 2 a smiling expression or aspect. Phrases and idioms: come up smiling colloq. recover from adversity and cheerfully face what is to come. Derivatives: smileless adj. smiler n. smiley adj. smilingly adv. Etymology: ME perh. f. Scand., rel. to SMIRK: cf. OHG smilenter

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Smile Smile, v. t. 1. To express by a smile; as, to smile consent; to smile a welcome to visitors. 2. To affect in a certain way with a smile. [R.] And sharply smile prevailing folly dead. --Young.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Smile Smile, n. [CF. Dan. smiil, Sw. smil. See Smile, v. i.] 1. The act of smiling; a peculiar change or brightening of the face, which expresses pleasure, moderate joy, mirth, approbation, or kindness; -- opposed to frown. Sweet intercourse Of looks and smiles: for smiles from reason flow. --Milton. 2. A somewhat similar expression of countenance, indicative of satisfaction combined with malevolent feelings, as contempt, scorn, etc; as, a scornful smile. 3. Favor; countenance; propitiousness; as, the smiles of Providence. ``The smile of heaven.'' --Shak. 4. Gay or joyous appearance; as, the smiles of spring. The brightness of their [the flowers'] smile was gone. --Bryant.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Smile Smile (sm[imac]l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Smiled (sm[imac]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Smiling.] [OE. smilen; akin to Dan. smile, Sw. smila, MHG. smielen, smieren, L. mirari to wonder at, Skr. smi to smile; and probably to E. smicker. [root]173. Cf. Admire, Marvel, Smirk.] 1. To express amusement, pleasure, moderate joy, or love and kindness, by the features of the face; to laugh silently. He doth nothing but frown. . . . He hears merry tales and smiles not. --Shak. She smiled to see the doughty hero slain. --Pope. When last I saw thy young blue eyes, they smiled. --Byron. 2. To express slight contempt by a look implying sarcasm or pity; to sneer. 'T was what I said to Craggs and Child, Who praised my modesty, and smiled. --Pope. 3. To look gay and joyous; to have an appearance suited to excite joy; as, smiling spring; smiling plenty. The desert smiled, And paradise was opened in the wild. --Pope. 4. To be propitious or favorable; to favor; to countenance; -- often with on; as, to smile on one's labors.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(smiles, smiling, smiled) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. When you smile, the corners of your mouth curve up and you sometimes show your teeth. People smile when they are pleased or amused, or when they are being friendly. When he saw me, he smiled and waved... He rubbed the back of his neck and smiled ruefully at me... His smiling face appears on T-shirts, billboards, and posters. VERB: V, V at n, V-ing 2. A smile is the expression that you have on your face when you smile. She gave a wry smile... 'There are some sandwiches if you're hungry,' she said with a smile... N-COUNT 3. If you say that something such as fortune smiles on someone, you mean that they are lucky or successful. (LITERARY) When fortune smiled on him, he made the most of it... VERB: V on/upon n 4. If you say that someone is all smiles, you mean that they look very happy, often when they have previously been worried or upset about something. PHRASE: v-link PHR

Moby Thesaurus

accost, address, be in heaven, be pleased, beam, bob, bow, bright smile, broad grin, caper, caracole, chirp, chirrup, crack a smile, curtsy, dance, delight, die with delight, ear-to-ear grin, embrace, feel happy, frolic, gambol, gleaming smile, glow, glowing smile, go into raptures, greeting, grin, grinning, hail, hand-clasp, handshake, hello, how-do-you-do, hug, idiotic grin, joy, kiss, laugh, lilt, nod, purr, radiate cheer, romp, salutation, salute, sardonic grin, simper, sing, skip, smile brightly, smile of recognition, smiling, smirk, sparkle, stupid grin, take great satisfaction, toothful grin, tread on air, wave, whistle