Adjacent Words

smudge definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a smoky fire to drive away insects
2: a blemish made by dirt; "he had a smudge on his cheek" [syn: smudge, spot, blot, daub, smear, smirch, slur] v
1: make a smudge on; soil by smudging [syn: smear, blur, smudge, smutch]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (smudged; smudging) Etymology: Middle English smogen Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. a. to make a smudge on b. to soil as if by smudging 2. a. to rub, daub, or wipe in a smeary manner b. to make indistinct ; blur <smudged the writing> 3. to smoke or protect by means of a smudge intransitive verb 1. to make a smudge 2. to become smudged II. noun Date: circa 1774 1. a. a blurry spot or streak b. an immaterial stain <cleanse him of every last smudge of impropriety — Richard Hanser> c. an indistinct mass ; blur 2. a smoldering mass placed on the windward side (as to protect from frost) 3. a bid of four in pitch that if made wins the game • smudgily adverb • smudginess noun • smudgy adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a blurred or smeared line or mark; a blot; a smear of dirt. 2 a stain or blot on a person's character etc. --v. 1 tr. make a smudge on. 2 intr. become smeared or blurred (smudges easily). 3 tr. smear or blur the lines of (writing, drawing, etc.) (smudge the outline). 4 tr. defile, sully, stain, or disgrace (a person's name, character, etc.). Derivatives: smudgeless adj. Etymology: ME: orig. unkn. 2. n. US an outdoor fire with dense smoke made to keep off insects, protect plants against frost, etc. Phrases and idioms: smudge-pot a container holding burning material that produces a smudge. Etymology: smudge (v.) cure (herring) by smoking (16th c.: orig. unkn.)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Smudge Smudge, n. [Cf. Dan. smuds smut, E. smutch, or smoke.] 1. A suffocating smoke. --Grose. 2. A heap of damp combustibles partially ignited and burning slowly, placed on the windward side of a house, tent, or the like, in order, by the thick smoke, to keep off mosquitoes or other insects. [U. S.] --Bartlett. 3. That which is smeared upon anything; a stain; a blot; a smutch; a smear.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Smudge Smudge, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Smudged; p. pr. & vb. n. Smudging.] 1. To stifle or smother with smoke; to smoke by means of a smudge. 2. To smear; to smutch; to soil; to blacken with smoke.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(smudges, smudging, smudged) 1. A smudge is a dirty mark. There was a dark smudge on his forehead. ...smudges of blood. N-COUNT 2. If you smudge a substance such as ink, paint, or make-up that has been put on a surface, you make it less neat by touching or rubbing it. Smudge the outline using a cotton-wool bud... Her lipstick was smudged. VERB: V n, V-ed 3. If you smudge a surface, you make it dirty by touching it and leaving a substance on it. She kissed me, careful not to smudge me with her fresh lipstick... VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. Smear, besmear, stain, blacken, spot, smutch, soil.

Moby Thesaurus

afterdamp, ash, ashes, aspersion, attaint, badge of infamy, bar sinister, baton, bedarken, bedaub, begrime, bend sinister, besmear, besmirch, besmutch, besoil, black, black eye, black mark, blackdamp, blacken, blackening, blackwash, bloodstain, blot, blotch, blur, brand, breath, broad arrow, calx, carbon, censure, champain, charcoal, chokedamp, cinder, clinker, cloud, coal, coke, coom, cork, dab, damp, darken, darkening, daub, defile, denigrate, denigration, dinge, dirty, disparagement, dross, ebonize, effluvium, exhalation, eyesore, fetid air, firedamp, flatus, fleck, flick, fluid, flyspeck, foul, fume, grime, imputation, ink, lava, macula, maculation, macule, malaria, mark, mark of Cain, melanization, melanize, mephitis, miasma, murk, nigrification, nigrify, onus, oversmoke, patch, pillorying, plaster, point champain, puff of smoke, reek, reflection, reprimand, reproach, scoria, shade, shading, shadow, slag, slubber, slur, smarm, smear, smirch, smirching, smoke, smooch, smouch, smudging, smut, smutch, smutching, soil, soilage, soilure, soot, spatter, speck, speckle, splash, splatter, splotch, spot, stain, steam, stigma, stigmatism, stigmatization, sullage, sully, taint, tarnish, vapor, volatile, water vapor