What does "smoke" mean?
The visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material.
Smoke
/smoʊk/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material.
- Grammar: smoke is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: aerate, aerify, afterdamp, air.
- Useful contrasts: bright color, clear air, fresh air.
- Usage evidence: You had better not smoke while on duty.
How to use "smoke"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "smoke" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "smoke" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "smoke" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "smoke" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "smoke" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "aerate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "smoke", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material. uncountable
"If those were the days, however, when steam was triumphant, they were also the days of smoke. Nowhere was this so apparent as at "Kings Cross (Suburban)" where, one after another, the Great Northern tank engines thumped their way up the incline and emerged from the tunnel, in clouds of steam and smoke, to pound their way up the last few hundred feet of gradient alongside the platform."
- 2 Synonym of Burmilla.
- 3 (baseball) a pitch thrown with maximum velocity wordnet
- 4 A cigarette. colloquial, countable
"Can I bum a smoke off you?; I need to go buy some smokes."
- 5 the act of smoking tobacco or other substances wordnet
Show 17 more definitions
- 6 Anything to smoke (e.g. cigarettes, marijuana, etc.) colloquial, uncountable
"Hey, you got some smoke?"
- 7 street names for marijuana wordnet
- 8 An instance of smoking a cigarette, cigar, etc.; the duration of this act. colloquial, countable
"I lit a pipe and had a good long smoke, and went on watching."
- 9 tobacco leaves that have been made into a cylinder wordnet
- 10 A fleeting illusion; something insubstantial, evanescent, unreal, transitory, or without result. figuratively, uncountable
"The excitement behind the new candidate proved to be smoke."
- 11 something with no concrete substance wordnet
- 12 Something used to obscure or conceal; an obscuring condition; see also smoke and mirrors. figuratively, uncountable
"The smoke of controversy."
- 13 an indication of some hidden activity wordnet
- 14 A light grey color tinted with blue. uncountable
- 15 a cloud of fine particles suspended in a gas wordnet
- 16 Bother, trouble; problems; hassle. slang, uncountable
"You better not be giving me no smoke."
- 17 a hot vapor containing fine particles of carbon being produced by combustion wordnet
- 18 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
- 19 Any cloud of solid particles or liquid vapor dispersed into the air; particularly one of:; Pollen scattered by a plant. countable, uncountable
"There has been a great deal of smoke in the yew-trees this year. One day there was such a cloud that it seemed to be a fire in the shrubbery. […]"
- 20 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
"[…] steeds, whose lowdnes filled the aire with terrour, and whose breathes dimmed the sun with smoake, converted to delicate tunes and amorous glances?"
- 21 A fastball. countable, slang, uncountable
- 22 A distinct column of smoke, such as indicating a burning area or fire. countable
"Should the commander of one column desire to communicate with the other, he raises three smokes simultaneously, which, if seen by the other party, should be responded to in the same manner."
Verb
- 1 To inhale and exhale the smoke from a burning cigarette, cigar, pipe, etc. transitive
"He's smoking his pipe."
- 2 inhale and exhale smoke from cigarettes, cigars, pipes wordnet
- 3 To inhale and exhale tobacco smoke. intransitive
"He used to drop into my chambers once in a while to smoke, and was first-rate company. When I gave a dinner there was generally a cover laid for him. I liked the man for his own sake, and even had he promised to turn out a celebrity it would have had no weight with me."
- 4 emit a cloud of fine particles wordnet
- 5 To give off smoke. intransitive
"My old truck was still smoking even after the repairs."
Show 17 more definitions
- 6 To give off smoke.; Of a fire in a fireplace: to emit smoke outward instead of up the chimney, owing to imperfect draught. intransitive
- 7 To give off smoke.; Of tobacco: to give off or produce smoke (in a certain manner or of a certain type). intransitive
""Damp tobacco," said Cripps, eyeing Limpet offensively as he threw down the challenge, "smokes unevenly. You'll admit that to start with.""
- 8 To preserve or prepare (food) for consumption by treating with smoke. transitive
"You'll need to smoke the meat for several hours."
- 9 To dry or medicate by smoke. transitive
"After opening one of the hives from the back, he smoked the bees to calm them and to drive the queen toward the front of the hive."
- 10 To fill or scent with smoke; hence, to fill with incense; to perfume. obsolete, transitive
- 11 To make unclear or blurry. obsolete, transitive
"Smoke your bits of glass, Ye loyal Swine, or her transfiguration Will blind your wondering eyes."
- 12 To perform (e.g. music) energetically or skillfully. intransitive, slang
"The horn section was really smokin' on that last tune."
- 13 To beat someone at something. slang
"We smoked them at rugby."
- 14 To snuff out; to kill, especially with a gun. slang, transitive
"He got smoked by the mob."
- 15 To thrash; to beat. obsolete, slang, transitive
- 16 To smell out; to hunt out; to find out; to detect. obsolete, transitive
"He was first smoked by the old Lord Lafeu."
- 17 To ridicule to the face; to mock. obsolete, slang, transitive
- 18 To burn; to be kindled; to rage.
"The anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man."
- 19 To raise a dust or smoke by rapid motion.
"Proud of his steeds, he smokes along the field."
- 20 To suffer severely; to be punished.
"Some of you shall smoke for it in Rome."
- 21 To punish (a person) for a minor offense by excessive physical exercise. US, slang, transitive
- 22 To cover (a key blank) with soot or carbon to aid in seeing the marks made by impressioning. transitive
Proper Noun
- 1 The 44th sura (chapter) of the Qur'an.
- 2 London. UK, informal
"I'm heading down to the Smoke later this week."
Antonyms
Example
"You had better not smoke while on duty."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "smoke"?
Common synonyms include: aerate, aerify, afterdamp, air, air-dry, airy nothing.
How do you use "smoke" in a sentence?
You had better not smoke while on duty.
How do you pronounce "smoke"?
Pronounced /smoʊk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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”), dialectal German Schmauch (“smoke”).
Etymology 2
From Middle English smoken, from Old English smocian (“to smoke, emit smoke; fumigate”), 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”).