▪ I. smeech, n. Now dial.
(smiːtʃ)
Forms: 1–2 smec, 2–4 smech, 3–4 smeche, 9 smeech, smeach.
[OE. sméc, variant of sm{iacu}c, sm{yacu}c (see smitch n.), from the stem of sméocan smeek v. For the equivalent northern forms see smeek n.]
Smoke; dense or thick vapour, etc. Also in fig. context.
Also in mod. south-western dial. ‘fine dust’, ‘stench’, etc.: see the Eng. Dial. Dict.
| c 825 Vesp. Hymns xii. 11 Clæne ᵹeleafa coelende slepes smec ᵹemetᵹie. c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxvii. §3 Hi losiað swa swa sceadu oððe smec. c 1000 Ags. Ps. (Thorpe) ci. 3 Daᵹas mine ᵹedroren syndan, smece ᵹelice. a 1200 Moral Ode in O.E. Hom. I. 177 Eure þer is vuel smech, þusternesse and eie. c 1250 Old Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 28 We mowe sigge þet stor signefieth þe herte, and se smech luue of gode. c 1315 Shoreham iii. 192 Þou ert a sot, and myȝt do bet, Ans so siȝst yn þe smeche. 1340 Ayenb. 66 Al alsuo huanne me alyȝt þet uer, lhapþ þet smech efter þe layt. |
| 1847 Halliw., Smeech,..obscurity in the air, arising from smoke, fog, or dust. South and West. 1875 M. G. Pearse D. Quorm 38 A faggot o' green furse 'pon the fire..fillin' the house with smeach and smoke. 1886 Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. 684 Your bakehouse chimley do make such a smeech. |
▪ II. smeech, v. Now dial.
Also 9 smeetch, smeechy.
[f. prec.]
1. trans. To blacken or soil with smoke. ? Obs.
| 1611 Cotgr., Patrouiller, to smeech, begrime,..besmeere. |
2. intr. To send off smoke, vapour, or the like; to smoke.
| 1837– in south-western dialects. |
3. trans. To perfume or scent.
| 1897 F. T. Jane Lordship xxvii, The hawthorn smeetched the air all round. |
Hence ˈsmeecher; smeeching vbl. n.
| 1611 Cotgr., Patrouilleur, a smeecher, begrimer, besmearer. Ibid., Patrouillement, a smeeching, begriming, besmearing. 1907 Sci. Amer. Suppl. 5 Oct. 210 (Cent. Dict. Suppl.), While the kiln is in operation, the escape of the arsenic fumes can be detected here and there in the form of little jets, which the workmen describe as ‘smeeching’. |