smudge
pronunciation
How to pronounce smudge in British English:
UK [smʌdʒ]
How to pronounce smudge in American English:
US [smʌdʒ]
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- Noun:
- a smoky fire to drive away insects
- a blemish made by dirt
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- Verb:
- make a smudge on; soil by smudging
Word Origin
- smudge (v.)
- early 15c., smogen "to soil, stain, blacken," of obscure origin. Related: Smudged; smudging. Meaning "make a smoky fire" is from 1860, hence smudge-pot (1903). The noun meaning "a stain, spot, smear" is first attested 1768, from the verb.
Example
- 1. The eye tends to perceive it only as smudge or sludge .
- 2. I see a diapered black baby in a tree that 's only a green smudge under the water 's surface .
- 3. The smudge had been transformed into a more legible print : now , at least , there were the outlines of ridges and bumps .
- 4. But the subtle differences - a strip of white on the wing , a smudge of dark on the breast - set charles darwin on course to develop the most important scientific theory ever conceived : the evolution of species through natural selection .