I. ˈsməj verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English smogen
transitive verb
1.
a. : to make a blurry splotch or streak (as of dirt) on : begrime , smutch , soil
wiped his brow with his sooty hand, smudging it
b. : to soil as if by smudging
the bright record for child welfare has been smudged occasionally by scandals — American Guide Series: Oregon
2.
a. : to rub, daub, or wipe in a smeary manner
smudging out instead of erasing neatly his first hesitant strokes — Time
b. : to make indistinct : blur
smudge the clean line of the bridges with unnecessary parapets — Times Literary Supplement
careful distinctions are smudged and coarsened — New Statesman & Nation
3.
a. : to smoke by means of a smudge (as in repelling mosquitoes) ; specifically : to protect (an orchard, garden) against frost by means of a smudge — compare orchard heating
b. : to cause (a fire) to smoke heavily
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to make a smudge
chalks that mark easily but do not smudge
they were smudging in the groves — Wright Morris
b. : to burn with little flame and much thick smoke
2. : to become smudged
charcoal drawings smudge easily
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a.
(1) : a blurry spot or streak : splotch , smear
left a smudge at the erasure
smudges made by cheap carbon paper
(2) : an immaterial stain
cleanse him of every last smudge of impropriety — Richard Hanser
b. : a smudged condition : soilage
c. : an indistinct mass : blur
ahead lay a chocolate brown smudge of land, huddled in mist — Gerald Durrell
2.
a. : thick or suffocating smoke : smother
b. or smudge fire : a smoldering mass placed on the windward side (as of a tent) to repel insects or in an orchard or garden to prevent frost
c. : an apparatus for making a smudge fire
3. Britain : plumber's soil
4.
a. : onion smudge
b. : a disease of wheat, rye, and barley caused by fungi of the genera Helminthosporium and Alternaria and characterized by brownish or black discoloration of the grains
5.
a. : a bid of 4 by a player in auction pitch who is not in the hole that if made wins the game forthwith
b. : the winning of all four points in auction pitch ; also : the reward for this which may be a doubled score or the winning of the game
c. : the game of auction pitch when either of the foregoing rules is incorporated
6. : a leukocyte that is degenerating
III. intransitive verb
Etymology: origin unknown
chiefly Scotland : to be quietly and slyly amused : laugh up one's sleeve