n. & v.
n. 1 a small flake of soot etc. 2 a spot or smudge made by this. 3 obscene or lascivious talk, pictures, or stories. 4 a a fungous disease of cereals in which parts of the ear change to black powder. b any fungus of the order Ustilaginales causing this.
v. (smutted, smutting) 1 tr. mark with smuts. 2 tr. infect (a plant) with smut. 3 intr. (of a plant) contract smut. smut-ball Agriculture grain affected by smut. smut-mill a machine for freeing grain from smut. smutty adj. (smuttier, smuttiest) (esp. in sense 3 of n.). smuttily adv. smuttiness n.
[ rel. to LG smutt, MHG smutz(en) etc.: cf. OE smitt(ian) smear, and SMUDGE(1) ]