Word.ws English Dictionary

smoke

/sməʊk//smoʊk/

smoke noun: the visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material.

smoke: the visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material
Image: Petrovskyz and Jahobr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

smoke (countable and uncountable, plural smokes)

  1. (uncountable) The visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material.
    • If those were the days, however, when steam was triumphant, they were also the days of smoke. Nowhere was this so apparent as at "Kings Cross (Suburban)" where, one after another, the Great Northern tank engines thumped their way up the incline and emerged from the tunnel, in clouds of steam and...1952 October, C. A. Johns, “One Hundred Years at Kings Cross—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 657
    • Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of...2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29
  2. (colloquial, countable) A cigarette.
    • Can I bum a smoke off you?
    • I need to go buy some smokes.
  3. (colloquial, uncountable) Anything to smoke (e.g. cigarettes, marijuana, etc.)
    • Hey, you got some smoke?
    • ERCS Guard: Got a smoke? We're all out.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Noveria
  4. (colloquial, countable, never plural) An instance of smoking a cigarette, cigar, etc.; the duration of this act.
    • I lit a pipe and had a good long smoke, and went on watching.1884 December 10, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VII, in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: (Tom Sawyer’s Comrade) […], London: Chatto & Windus, […], →OCLC
    • I'm going out for a smoke.
  5. (figuratively, uncountable) A fleeting illusion; something insubstantial, evanescent, unreal, transitory, or without result.
    • The excitement behind the new candidate proved to be smoke.
    • I fed her a lot of smoke about a sheep station outside Adelaide and a big property in the high street with a glass front and ‘Thomas’ in lights. She didn’t believe me.1974, John le Carré, chapter 6, in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, New York: Knopf, page 44
  6. (figuratively, uncountable) Something used to obscure or conceal; an obscuring condition; see also smoke and mirrors.
    • The smoke of controversy.
  7. (uncountable) A light grey color tinted with blue.
  8. (slang, uncountable, African-American Vernacular) Bother, trouble; problems; hassle.
    • You better not be giving me no smoke.
  9. Opaque aerosol released on a battlefield, used e.g. to signal or to degrade enemy observation via smokescreen.
  10. Pollen scattered by a plant.
    • There has been a great deal of smoke in the yew-trees this year. One day there was such a cloud that it seemed to be a fire in the shrubbery. […]1868, Emily Sarah Sellwood Tennyson, journal entry quoted in 1897, Hallam Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son, page 53
    • A gustful April morn / That puff'd the swaying branches into smoke.1869, Alfred Tennyson, Holy Grail, 15
  11. Mist, fog, or drizzle; water vapour, such as from exhalation into cold air.
    • […] steeds, whose lowdnes filled the aire with terrour, and whose breathes dimmed the sun with smoake, converted to delicate tunes and amorous glances?1858 [1584?], John Lyly, The Dramatic Works of John Lilly, page 110
    • You'll find that one of these days. If there's work ahead you ought to have sense enough not to knock smoke out of fresh horses before we begin.1898, Rolf Boldrewood, Robbery Under Arms: A Story of Life and Adventure in the Bush and in the Goldfields of Australia, page 71
  12. (slang) A fastball.
  13. (countable) A distinct column of smoke, such as indicating a burning area or fire.
    • When, lo! along the tall
      Rocky hill-side, a smoke ascends in clouds
      Like snow-flakes, soaring from the summit up
      Into the sky.1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume II, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 87
    • Should the commander of one column desire to communicate with the other, he raises three smokes simultaneously, which, if seen by the other party, should be responded to in the same manner.1860, Randolph Barnes Marcy, The Prairie and Overland Traveller, page 203

Verb

smoke (third-person singular simple present smokes, present participle smoking, simple past smoked, past participle smoked or (rare, nonstandard) smoken)

  1. (transitive) To inhale and exhale the smoke from a burning cigarette or cigar, burning material in a pipe, etc.
    • He's smoking his pipe.
    • Her dad smoked various brands when he was younger.
    Synonyms:
    have a smoke
  2. (intransitive) To inhale and exhale tobacco smoke.
    • He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 2
    • To Edward […] he was terrible, nerve-inflaming, poisonously asphyxiating. He sat rocking himself in the late Mr. Churchill's swing chair, smoking and twaddling.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
  3. (intransitive) To give off smoke.
    • My old truck was still smoking even after the repairs.
    • Hard by a cottage chimney smokes.1645, John Milton, L'Allegro
    1. (intransitive) Of a fire in a fireplace, to emit smoke outward instead of up the chimney, owing to imperfect draught.
    2. (intransitive) Of tobacco: to give off or produce smoke (in a certain manner or of a certain type).
      • "Damp tobacco," said Cripps, eyeing Limpet offensively as he threw down the challenge, "smokes unevenly. You'll admit that to start with."1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 12
      • "Dry tobacco burns even, and therefore smokes cool."1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 13
  4. (transitive) To preserve or prepare (food) for consumption by treating with smoke.
    • You'll need to smoke the meat for several hours.
  5. (transitive) To dry or medicate by smoke.
    • After opening one of the hives from the back, he smoked the bees to calm them and to drive the queen toward the front of the hive.2019, Thomas D. Seeley, The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild, page 64
  6. (obsolete, transitive) To fill or scent with smoke; hence, to fill with incense; to perfume.
  7. (obsolete, transitive) To make unclear or blurry.
    • Smoke your bits of glass,
      Ye loyal Swine, or her transfiguration
      Will blind your wondering eyes.1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Oedipus Tyrannus; Or, Swellfoot The Tyrant: A Tragedy in Two Acts
  8. (intransitive, slang) To perform (e.g. music) energetically or skillfully.
    • The horn section was really smokin' on that last tune.
  9. (slang) To beat someone at something; to be very good at something.
    • We smoked them at rugby.
    • She's gotta do that song, she outright smokes when she hits the refrain!
  10. (slang, transitive) To snuff out; to kill, especially with a gun.
    • He got smoked by the mob.
    • Ordnancemen stenciled bombs with “greetings” on behalf of friends and loved ones back home or slogans playing on beer and cigarette advertisements, like “To Muammar: For all you do, this bomb's for you” or “I'd fly 10,000 miles to smoke a camel.”1993, Joseph T. Stanik, "Swift and Effective Retribution": The U.S. Sixth Fleet and the Confrontation with Qaddafi (The U.S. Navy in the Modern World Series; 3), Naval Historical Center
  11. (obsolete, slang, transitive) To thrash; to beat.
  12. (obsolete, transitive) To smell out; to hunt out; to find out; to detect.
    • He was first smoked by the old Lord Lafeu.c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
    • I alone / Smok'd his true person, talk'd with him.1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615...
Show 6 more meaningsShow fewer meanings
  1. (obsolete, slang, transitive) To ridicule to the face; to mock.
  2. To burn; to be kindled; to rage.
    • The anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Deuteronomy 29:20
  3. To raise a dust or smoke by rapid motion.
    • Proud of his steeds, he smokes along the field.1697, Virgil, “Aeneis”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  4. To suffer severely; to be punished.
    • Some of you shall smoke for it in Rome.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
  5. (US, slang, transitive) To punish (a person) for a minor offense by excessive physical exercise.
  6. (transitive) To cover (a key blank) with soot or carbon to aid in seeing the marks made by impressioning.

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Smoke

Smoke

  1. The 44th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Smoke

the Smoke

  1. (UK, informal) London.
    • I'm heading down to the Smoke later this week.

Noun (2) capitalized: Smoke

Smoke

  1. Synonym of Burmilla.
    Synonyms:
    Burmilla

smoke meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

smoke in Hindi

visible particles and vapour given off by burning material
धूआँ dhūā̃, धूम्र dhūmra
to inhale and exhale smoke from a burning cigarette
पीना pīnā, सिगरेट पीना sigreṭ pīnā, धूम्रपान करना dhūmrapān karnā
to inhale and exhale tobacco smoke regularly or habitually
पीना pīnā

smoke in Tamil

visible particles and vapour given off by burning material
புகை pukai

smoke in Marathi

visible particles and vapour given off by burning material
धूर dhūr
colloquial: cigarette
धूम्रपान dhūmrapān

smoke in Urdu

visible particles and vapour given off by burning material
دُھواں dhuā̃, دُود dūd
to inhale and exhale smoke from a burning cigarette
پِینا pīnā, سِگْریٹ پِینا sigreṭ pīnā
to inhale and exhale tobacco smoke regularly or habitually
پینا pīnā
More languagesFewer languages
smoke in Bengali
ধোঁয়া dhō̃ẇa, ত্তড়ান ttoṛan, ধোঁয়া ত্তড়ান dhõẏa ttoṛan
smoke in Telugu
పొగ poga, తాగు tāgu, పొగతాగు pogatāgu
smoke in Malayalam
പുക puka
smoke in Kannada
ಧೂಮ dhūma, ಹೊಗೆ hoge
smoke in Punjabi
ਧੂੰ dhū̃
smoke in Gujarati
ધુમાડો dhumāḍo, પીવું pīvũ
smoke in Odia
ଧୂଆଁ dhuā̃
smoke in Sanskrit
धूम dhūma
smoke in Sinhala
දුමාරය dumāraya
smoke in Assamese
ধোঁৱা dhü̃a, হোপা hüpa
smoke in Nepali
धुँवा dhũwā, धूवाँ dhūwā̃
smoke in Pashto
دود dud, څکول ckawǝl, سګرېټ څکول segreṭ ckawǝl
smoke in Tagalog
usok, manigarilyo
smoke in Arabic
دُخَان duḵān, دخان duḵān, دَخَّنَ daḵḵana, دَخَنَ daḵana
smoke in Malay
kelabu asap, asap, hisap
smoke in Indonesian
asap, rokok
smoke in Persian
دُود dūd, دود dud, سیگار sigâr, سِگْرِت کَشِیدَن sigrit kašīdan
smoke in Thai
ควัน kwan, สูบบุหรี่ sùup-bù-rìi, สูบ sùup, ลนควัน
smoke in Vietnamese
khói, hút thuốc, hơi thuốc
smoke in Myanmar
အခိုး a.hkui:, သောက် sauk, ရှူ hru
Sindhi
دوُنھون dū̃hon
Dhivehi
ދުމް dum̊
Dzongkha
དུ་པ du pa

Examples of smoke in a sentence

  • If those were the days, however, when steam was triumphant, they were also the days of smoke.1952 October, C. A. Johns, “One Hundred Years at Kings Cross—1”, in Railway Magazine, page 657:
  • The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.2013 June 29, “Unspontaneous combustion”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 29:
  • […] "fruitful cloud and living smoke" of pollen that rises from every spray.1903, Mary Rowles Jarvis, The Tree Book, page 33:
  • […] the "smoke" of pollen is so thick that distant hills look as if they are on fire.1998, Diane Capito, Mark Willis, San Antonio on Foot:

All 40 example sentences with smoke

Synonyms of smoke

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of smoke

Forms of smoke

Noun
pluralsmokes
alternative form (obsolete)smoak
Verb
third-person singular presentsmokes
present participlesmoking
pastsmoked
past participlesmoked
past participle (nonstandard, rare)smoken

Past tense of smoke: smoked

Plural of smoke: smokes

Origin of smoke

From Middle English smoke, from Old English smoca (“smoke”), probably a derivative of the verb (see below). Related to Dutch smook (“smoke”), Middle Low German smôk (“smoke”), German Schmauch (“smoke (from a gun barrel)”).

From Middle English smoken, from Old English smocian (“to smoke, to emit smoke”), from Proto-West Germanic *smokōn, from Proto-Germanic *smukōną (“to smoke”), ablaut derivative of Proto-Germanic *smaukaną (“to smoke”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)mewg- (“to smoke”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian smookje (“to smoke”), West Frisian smoke (“to smoke”), Dutch smoken (“to smoke”), Low German smöken (“to smoke”), German Low German smoken (“to smoke”). Related also to Old English smēocan (“to smoke, emit smoke; fumigate”), Bavarian schmuckelen (“to smell bad, reek”).

Words formed from smoke

Phrases with smoke

98 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with smoke

42 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about smoke

What does smoke mean?
Smoke means the visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material.
What is smoke in Hindi?
Smoke in Hindi is धूआँ (dhūā̃), धूम्र (dhūmra), पीना (pīnā). See Smoke meaning in Hindi.
How do you use smoke in a sentence?
If those were the days, however, when steam was triumphant, they were also the days of smoke.
What part of speech is smoke?
Smoke can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce smoke?
Smoke is pronounced /sməʊk/ (UK).
What is the plural of smoke?
The plural of smoke is smokes.

Words near smoke in the dictionary

  1. smoglessness
  2. smogs
  3. smokability
  4. smokable
  5. smokables
  6. smoke
  7. smoke alarm
  8. smoke alarms
  9. smoke and mirrors
  10. smoke arch
  11. smoke arches

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: smoke (page history and authors); Smoke (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-smoke.wav, en-us-smoke.ogg, En-au-Smoke.ogg.

Cite this entry: “smoke.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smoke. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.