smokey bear
smokey bear is the alternative form of Smokey Bear.
Proper noun capitalized: Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear
- A fictional bear dressed as a ranger who acts as a symbol of forest fire prevention, with the slogan "Only you can prevent forest fires."
- 1994 marks the 50th anniversary of Smokey Bear, the world renowned symbol of forest fire prevention.1995, United States Forest Service Washington Office, Forest Service video library catalog, page 14
- Bambi was released in 1942, and two years later the Smokey Bear campaign to reduce forest fires began.2009, Jon Nelson, Quetico: Near to Nature's Heart, →ISBN, page 209
Noun capitalized: Smokey Bear
Smokey Bear (plural Smokey Bears)
- A policeman, especially a highway patrol officer.
- There are laws on the books now, and the Smokey Bears Afloat are enforcing them.1977, Live Steam - Volume 11, page 12
- Stan allowed as how last month that the driver, Joe Bob, had "punched out a Smokey Bear in that county and so for the next month or so we need to route him around DeKalb county as the Smokey Bears were still a-swarmin and looking for him."2003, Robert E. D. Woolsey, Richard Lovell Hewitt, Real World Operations Research: The Woolsey Papers, page 87
- A ranger or park service employee that deals with the public.
- The Forest Service PR campaign now in high gear. Smokey Bears all over the place, giving talks to Rotary, Kiwanis, Chamber, Junior Chamber, Legion, hunters, fishermen, Grange, […]1967, The Mountaineer, page 14
- Apparently a fellow running a trapline accidentally caught a marten, which is still a protected species though slowly increasing in numbers. The marten was turned over to the Smokey Bears so that, at least, it could be stuffed and displayed in the Voyageurs Park museum.1980, National Parks & Conservation Magazine, page 1
- A firefighter.
- Having fought many fires in the States, I sure didn't envy future Smokey Bears in that terrain.1976, Gary M. Smith, Windsinger, →ISBN, page 100
- Well, it turns out the Smokey Bears were right after all. What appeared to be a disaster has turned out to be not only a boon to the land but a boost to tourism, because the dramatic traces of fire added to its natural beauty.1998, Eric Nelson, The Mall of America: Reflections of a Virtual Community, →ISBN, page 209
- A campaign hat.
- There were two of them— a man and a woman wearing neat Smokey Bears.1989, J. Edward Ames, Spellcaster, →ISBN, page 160
- They swaggered around in their Smokey Bears, as if a felt hat would intimidate a short-fused grenade.2011, Robert Buettner, Orphanage: Jason Wander series - Book 1, →ISBN
- An aircraft used to drop defoliants in the Vietnam War.
- No Smokey Bears: You can't shoot something you can't see. The Air Force in Viet Nam has special teams that blast away tree leaves and other shrubbery beside canals that offer hiding places for the Viet Cong. The motto of these defoliation teams: "Only you can prevent forests."1966, The Conservationist - Volumes 21-22, page 34
- Aircraft used to spread Agent Orange and other defoliants were known as Smokey Bears.2007, America, History and Life - Volume 44, Issue 3, page 660
Forms of smokey bear
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | smokey bears |
| plural | Smokey Bears |
| Proper noun | |
| alternative form | Smokey |
| alternative form | Smokey the Bear |
| alternative form | smokey bear |
| alternative form | smokey |
Origin of smokey bear
From an ad campaign first introduced in 1944 by Foote, Cone and Belding in cooperation with the Forest Service and the Ad Council. The name was inspired by “Smokey” Joe Martin, a New York City Fire Department hero who suffered burns and blindness during a bold 1922 rescue. (Later, in 1950, an actual burned black bear cub was named Smokey and took on this symbolic role.)
Questions about smokey bear
- What does smokey bear mean?
- Smokey bear means a fictional bear dressed as a ranger who acts as a symbol of forest fire prevention, with the slogan "Only you can prevent forest fires.".
- What is smokey bear the alternative form of?
- Smokey bear is the alternative form of Smokey Bear.
- What part of speech is smokey bear?
- Smokey bear can be a proper noun or a noun.
Words near smokey bear in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: smokey bear (page history and authors); Smokey Bear (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:
Cite this entry: “smokey bear.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smokey_bear. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.