Dictionaries › English

smack

Pronunciation: /smæk/

The English word “smack” has 18 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A distinct flavor, especially if slight.
  2. A slight trace of something; a smattering.
  3. Synonym of heroin.
  4. A form of fried potato; a scallop.
  5. A small sailing vessel, commonly rigged as a sloop, used chiefly in the coasting and fishing trade and often called a fishing smack.
  6. A group of jellyfish.
  7. A sharp blow; a slap. See also: spank.
  8. The sound of a loud kiss.
  9. A quick, sharp noise, as of the lips when suddenly separated, or of a whip.

verb

  1. To get the flavor of.
  2. To have a particular taste; used with of.
  3. To indicate or suggest something; used with of.
  4. To slap or hit someone.
  5. To make a smacking sound.
  6. To strike a child (usually on the buttocks) as a form of discipline. (normal U.S. and Canadian term spank)
  7. To wetly separate the lips, making a noise, after tasting something or in expectation of a treat.
  8. To kiss with a close compression of the lips, so as to make a sound when they separate.

adverb

  1. As if with a smack or slap; smartly; sharply.

Etymology

The noun is from Middle English smac, smak, smacke, from Old English smæc, smæċċ (“taste, smatch”), from Proto-West Germanic *smakku, from Proto-Germanic *smakkuz (“a taste”), from Proto-Indo-European *smegʰ-, *smeg- (“to taste”). The verb is from Middle English smaken. Doublet of smatch (obsolete, “taste”; q.v.), from Old English smæċċan (“to taste, smack”). Cognate with Scots smak (“scent,…

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “smack” there

More English words

About this dictionary

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.