smutting

Verb

smut (third-person singular simple present smuts, present participle smutting, simple past and past participle smutted)

1. (ambitransitive) To stain (or be stained) with soot or other dirt.
   • it bears a very good Crop , and seldom smuts1707, J[ohn] Mortimer, The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC

   Synonyms:

   befoul, smutch, smutty, soil, assoil, beclart, bedaub, bedirty, imbrue (especially with blood), bedizen

2. (transitive) To taint (grain, etc.) with the smut fungus.
   • Mildew also falls upon Corn, and smuts it1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “(please specify the page, or |century=I to X)”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted...
3. (intransitive) To become tainted by the smut fungus.
   • It smutted to a far greater degree than the year before, say three fourths, or more. I obtained but little more than the seed sown, and that was handsome wheat. This failure I imputed to the same supposed cause which operated the last year.1836, New England Farmer, volume 14, page 313
4. (transitive) To clear of the smut fungus.
   • to smut grain for the mill

See all 11 meanings of smut