smog
pronunciation
How to pronounce smog in British English:
UK [smɒɡ]
How to pronounce smog in American English:
US [smɑːɡ]
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- Noun:
- air pollution by a mixture of smoke and fog
Word Origin
- smog (n.)
- 1905, blend of smoke and fog, formed "after Lewis Carrol's example" [Klein; see portmanteau]. Reputedly coined in reference to London, and first attested there in a paper read by Dr. H.A. des Voeux, treasurer of the Coal Smoke Abatement Society, though he seems not to have claimed credit for coining it. At a recent health congress in London, a member used a new term to indicate a frequent London condition, the black fog, which is not unknown in other large cities and which has been the cause of a great deal of bad language in the past. The word thus coined is a contraction of smoke fog "smog" -- and its introduction was received with applause as being eminently expressive and appropriate. It is not exactly a pretty word, but it fits very well the thing it represents, and it has only to become known to be popular. ["Journal of the American Medical Association," Aug. 26, 1905] Smaze (with haze (n.)) is from 1953.
Synonym
Example
- 1. These can cause smog and sicknesses like lung cancer .
- 2. Notwithstanding the smog hanging over chinese cities , beijing really is trying to implement stricter environmental standards .
- 3. Environmental degradation is now so severe that suffocating smog surrounds major highways and transportation arteries routinely .
- 4. Smog blankets large chinese cities .
- 5. Yet the smog is lifting .