smack¹ (smăk)

v., smacked, smack·ing, smacks.

v.tr.

1. To press together and open (the lips) quickly and noisily, as in eating or tasting.
2. To kiss noisily.
3. To strike sharply and with a loud noise.

v.intr.

1. To make or give a smack.
2. To collide sharply and noisily: The ball smacked against the side of the house.

n.

1. The loud sharp sound of smacking.
2. A noisy kiss.
3. A sharp blow or slap.

adv.

1. With a smack: fell smack on her head.
2. Directly: "We were smack in the middle of another controversy about a public man's personal life" (Ellen Goodman).

[Perhaps of Middle Flemish origin, or perhaps of imitative origin.]

smack² (smăk)
n.

1. 1. A distinctive flavor or taste.
   2. A suggestion or trace.
2. A small amount; a smattering.

intr.v., smacked, smack·ing, smacks.

1. To have a distinctive flavor or taste. Used with of.
2. To give an indication; be suggestive. Often used with of: "an agenda that does not smack of compromise" (Time).

[Middle English, from Old English smæc.]

smack³ (smăk)
n.
A fishing boat sailing under various rigs, according to size, and often having a well used to transport the catch to market.

[Dutch or Low German smak, from smakken, to fling, dash.]

smack⁴ (smăk)
n. Slang
Heroin.

[Probably variant of smeck, from Yiddish shmek, a sniff, swell, from shmekn, to sniff, smell, from Middle High German smecken, smacken, to smell, taste, from Old High German smac, smell, taste.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

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