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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

smoke.

The visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/sməʊk/Received-Pronunciation/smoʊk/Canada, General-American/sməʉk/Australia/smɐʉk/New-Zealand
  1. The visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material.

    uncountable
  2. A cigarette.

    colloquial · countable
    Can I bum a smoke off you?
    I need to go buy some smokes.
  3. Anything to smoke (e.g. cigarettes, marijuana, etc.)

    colloquial · uncountable
    Hey, you got some smoke?
  4. An instance of smoking a cigarette, cigar, etc.; the duration of this act.

    colloquial · countable
    I'm going out for a smoke.
  5. A fleeting illusion; something insubstantial, evanescent, unreal, transitory, or without result.

    figuratively · uncountable
    The excitement behind the new candidate proved to be smoke.
  6. Something used to obscure or conceal; an obscuring condition; see also smoke and mirrors.

    figuratively · uncountable
    The smoke of controversy.
  7. A light grey color tinted with blue.

    uncountable
  8. Bother, trouble; problems; hassle.

    slang · uncountable
    You better not be giving me no smoke.
  9. Any cloud of solid particles or liquid vapor dispersed into the air; particularly one of: Opaque aerosol released on a battlefield, used e.g. to signal or to degrade enemy observation via smokescreen.

    countable · uncountable
  10. Any cloud of solid particles or liquid vapor dispersed into the air; particularly one of: Pollen scattered by a plant.

    countable · uncountable
  11. Any cloud of solid particles or liquid vapor dispersed into the air; particularly one of: Mist, fog, or drizzle; water vapour, such as from exhalation into cold air.

    countable · uncountable
  12. A fastball.

    countable · slang · uncountable
  13. A distinct column of smoke, such as indicating a burning area or fire.

    countable
Where this word comes from

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)”).

verb/sməʊk/Received-Pronunciation/smoʊk/Canada, General-American/sməʉk/Australia/smɐʉk/New-Zealand
  1. To inhale and exhale the smoke from a burning cigarette or cigar, burning material in a pipe, etc.

    transitive
    He's smoking his pipe.
    Her dad smoked various brands when he was younger.
  2. To inhale and exhale tobacco smoke.

    intransitive
    Do you smoke?
  3. To give off smoke.

    intransitive
    My old truck was still smoking even after the repairs.
  4. To give off smoke. Of a fire in a fireplace, to emit smoke outward instead of up the chimney, owing to imperfect draught.

    intransitive
  5. To give off smoke. Of tobacco: to give off or produce smoke (in a certain manner or of a certain type).

    intransitive
  6. To preserve or prepare (food) for consumption by treating with smoke.

    transitive
    You'll need to smoke the meat for several hours.
  7. To dry or medicate by smoke.

    transitive
  8. To fill or scent with smoke; hence, to fill with incense; to perfume.

    obsolete · transitive
  9. To make unclear or blurry.

    obsolete · transitive
  10. To perform (e.g. music) energetically or skillfully.

    intransitive · slang
    The horn section was really smokin' on that last tune.
  11. To beat someone at something; to be very good at something.

    slang
    We smoked them at rugby.
    She's gotta do that song, she outright smokes when she hits the refrain!
  12. To snuff out; to kill, especially with a gun.

    slang · transitive
    He got smoked by the mob.
  13. To thrash; to beat.

    obsolete · slang · transitive
  14. To smell out; to hunt out; to find out; to detect.

    obsolete · transitive
  15. To ridicule to the face; to mock.

    obsolete · slang · transitive
  16. To burn; to be kindled; to rage.

  17. To raise a dust or smoke by rapid motion.

  18. To suffer severely; to be punished.

  19. To punish (a person) for a minor offense by excessive physical exercise.

    US · slang · transitive
  20. To cover (a key blank) with soot or carbon to aid in seeing the marks made by impressioning.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.