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.
Phrases and idioms:
smut-ball Agriculture grain affected by smut. smut-mill a machine for freeing grain from smut.
Derivatives:
smutty adj. (smuttier, smuttiest) (esp. in sense 3 of n.). smuttily adv. smuttiness n.
Etymology: rel. to LG smutt, MHG smutz(en) etc.: cf. OE smitt(ian) smear, and SMUDGE(1)