noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Small lumps of ore which free miners scavenged because small quantities were exempt from payment of taxes. The practice ended in 1760 when the Duke of Devonshire challenged the tax exemption. UK, obsolete, uncountable

Synonyms

All synonyms

flourflour

Etymology

Perhaps compare English smeddum (“fine powder, lump ore, etc.”).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.