▪ I. smoking, vbl. n.
(ˈsməʊkɪŋ)
[f. smoke v.]
1. The action or fact of emitting smoke, giving off steam or vapour, etc.
| 1530 Palsgr. 271/2 Smokyng, fumiere. 1611 Cotgr., Fumement,..a smoaking. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 6 To prevent the smoaking of Chimneyes. 1715 Lond. Gaz. No. 5392/4 Any smoaking of Chimneys. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. vi, The smoking and steaming of the heated horses. |
2. a. The action of inhaling and exhaling smoke from a pipe, cigar, or the like.
| 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. II. 709 Given more to bibbing and smoaking than the duty of his Office. 1762 Goldsm. Nash 24 Smoaking in the rooms was permitted. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. iii. I. 369 Nowhere was the smoking more constant than at Will's. |
b. ellipt. A (railway) smoking-carriage or compartment.
| 1889–90 Kipling Let. in C. Carrington Rudyard Kipling (1955) vi. 140 Went home with him as far as Charing Cross in a 3rd smoking. |
c. ellipt. A smoking-jacket; also (chiefly as a gallicism), a dinner jacket (see
dinner n. 2).
| 1922 M. Arlen Piracy ii. ix. 127 He put on a dress⁓suit... It suited Argentines very well, le smoking. But Englishmen were made of sterner stuff. 1934 S. Beckett More Pricks than Kicks 77 Cinched beyond reproach in the double-breasted smoking. 1960 R. St. John Foreign Correspondent viii. 142, I will make you a ‘smoking’ of fine English material for twenty thousand lei. 1977 T. Heald Just Desserts vii. 171 Guests wore tuxedos if they were American males and black dinner jackets if..European (..except for the odd Italian in tobacco brown ‘smoking’). |
† 3. A bantering or quizzing.
Obs.| 1781 F. Burney Diary June, What a smoking did Miss Burney give Mr. Crutchley. Ibid. Aug., Whether he..took the opportunity to give us all a smoking. |
4. The curing of meat, etc., by exposure to smoke.
| 1819 in Pantologia s.v. 1872 Yeats Techn. Hist. Comm. 224 The efficacy of smoking depends on certain chemical products. 1901 Black Carp. & Build. vi. 65 The barrel..is covered over at the top, and the smoking proceeds. |
5. School slang. Blushing.
| 1862 Farrar St. Winifred's iv, Smoking is the name fellows give to blushing. |
6. attrib. a. In combs. relating to the curing of provisions by smoke, or the production of smoke for some special purpose, as
smoking-house,
smoking knife,
smoking loft,
smoking pot,
smoking vessel,
smoking works.
| 1648 Hexham ii, Een roock-vat, a Censoir, or smoaking vessell. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Thuribulum, a Censer, or Smoaking-Pot, to burn Incence in. 1736 N. Bailey Household Dict. Ll 2 A Smoking Closet for drying Tongues. 1759 R. Brown Compl. Farmer 61 Curing bacon..by smoking lofts or closets, adjoining to the funnels of their chimneys. 1791 Trans. Soc. Arts IX. 136 The smoking works being erected at the foot, and the tar-funnel higher up the hill. 1805 Lindley Voy. Brasil (1808) 260 Flesh..which they salt, and dry in the sun and smoking-houses. 1839 Mag. Dom. Econ. IV. 118 The hams..are smoked in smoking-houses. 1883 Fisheries Exhib. Catal. 62 New and Improved Smoking Knives for Fishermen. |
b. In terms denoting things or places used for, or in connexion with, the smoking of tobacco, etc., as
smoking apparatus,
smoking box [
box n.2 III],
smoking-cap,
smoking car,
smoking-carriage,
smoking compartment,
smoking-lamp,
smoking lounge,
smoking-suit, etc.;
smoking-bean U.S., the catalpa bean, the pods of which are smoked by boys;
smoking machine, a device which draws air through a lighted cigarette, etc., so that the smoke may be used for scientific study;
smoking weed, (
a)
= bearberry a;
cf. kinnikinnic 2; (
b)
= cannabis 1;
cf. marijuana, marihuana 2.
| 1771 Mackenzie Man Feeling xxi, He took from his pocket a particular *smoaking apparatus. |
| 1841 Dickens Old C. Shop lxxiii. 220 A little cottage at Hampstead..had in its garden a *smoking-box. |
| 1841 J. Romilly Diary 9 Mar. (1967) 211 Dined with Bayne: he..wore an embroidered *smoking cap. 1872 Calverley Charades iii. ii, Nor work smoking-caps for cousins. |
| 1846 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. 380/3 *Smoking Cars—..we mean cars expressly provided for the lovers of the ‘weed’. 1931 W. Faulkner Sanctuary xix. 202 Horace..went forward into the smoking car. It was full too. 1958 ‘E. McBain’ Killer's Payoff (1960) vi. 59 She boarded the train and went directly to a smoking car. |
| 1862 J. Simmons Railway Traveller's Handy Book 83 Some lines have certain *smoking carriages provided. 1871 M. Collins Marq. & Merch. III. ii. 67 The..gentlemen were..ensconced in a smoking-carriage. |
| 1891 Peacock N. Brendon I. 138 He put on a *smoking coat. |
| 1888 Amer. Humorist (London) 5 May 7/1 Came over from New York..in the *smoking compartment of a parlor car. |
| 1878 H. Smart Play or Pay i, Appearing in a radiant *smoking-jacket that matched the cigar-case. |
| 1889 Cent. Dict., *Smoking-lamp.., a lamp hung up on board of a man-of-war during hours when smoking is permitted, for the men to light their pipes by. 1940 D. Potter Sailing Sulu Sea 28 Smoking was prohibited except when the smoking-lamp—a name now almost forgotten—was authorized to be lighted. 1966 J. V. Noel Naval Terms Dict. 304 Smoking-lamp: If ‘lighted’, it means that smoking is permitted; if ‘out’, means smoking prohibited. |
| 1951 E. Paul Springtime in Paris iii. 45 He could relax like a tomcat, in an easy chair in the *smoking lounge. 1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 6/2 Why should the teachers have a smoking lounge and not the students? |
| 1953 Life 21 Dec. 20/1 (caption) *Smoking machine puffs on 60 cigarets in front of Dr. Evarts Graham, who, with his collaborator on the mouse cancer research, Dr. Ernest Wynder, perfected the robot. 1963 Times 22 Apr. 19/3 A ‘smoking machine’ is used to demonstrate the amount of chemicals inhaled, including those which cause cancer. 1971 Nature 26 Nov. 227/1 Lung explants..were..exposed in a Filtrona CSM12 smoking machine to puffs of fresh cigarette smoke. |
| 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 161 Meerschaum, Amber,..are principally used for *smoking-pipes. |
| 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 885 In competition with the *smoking-shops, there are now shops where injections are to be had at so much the syringeful. |
| 1898 Beerbohm Let. 12 Jan. (1964) 127, I have a *smoking-suit of purple silk, with dark red facings. 1958 Listener 21 Aug. 261/2 Did you know..that women wore smoking suits in the 'twenties? |
| 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 57/2 The *Smoking Temple in the Classic style, with niches and divans in colour. |
| 1796 Morse Amer. Geogr. I. 259 Snuff, chewing and *smoaking tobacco. 1880 U.S. Census, Rep. Culture Tobacco 15 Other cigar and smoking tobacco. |
| 1857 J. Hector Jrnl. 31 Oct. in Capt. Palliser's Exploration in Brit. N. Amer. 65 in Parl. Papers 1863 XXXIX. 441 A gravelly soil supporting a poor growth of grass, but in some parts covered with a dense matting of the *smoking weed.., the bright red berries of which afford food for large coveys of the prairie hens. 1957 C. MacInnes City of Spades i. v. 27 I'd seen what plant it was in flower-pots inside there... ‘It's smoking weed,’ I said. |
c. In the sense of ‘at which smoking takes place or is allowed’, as
smoking-concert, etc.
| 1809 A. Henry Trav. 299 In smoking-feasts, or feasts of the pipe, or calumet, held in honour of the spirits. 1886 C. E. Pascoe London of To-day vi. (ed. 3) 78 The smoking concert..with its genial Bohemianism. 1895 Daily News 4 Feb. 5/3 The annual meeting of the club would be held..as a smoking ‘At Home’. 1934 T. S. Eliot Rock i. 40 Dance 'alls, picture palaces, swimmin' baths, smokin' concerts, restaurants. 1945 Daily Mirror 15 Aug. 7/2 Anyone who could perform well enough for a private party or a smoking concert was roped in. 1971 Sunday Nation (Nairobi) 11 Apr. 42/5 The smoking concert will be held on Sunday evening and not on the Saturday as I stated. |
d. In other senses, as
smoking-party [
party n. 8];
smoking point,
temperature = smoke point s.v. smoke n. 11.
| 1898 ‘Mark Twain’ in Century Mag. Nov. 100/1 This smoking-party had been gathered together partly for business. 1923 Kipling Irish Guards in Gt. War I. 206 Leave was possible; smoking-parties made themselves in the big huts. |
| 1915 Jrnl. Home Econ. VII. 538 For each case the addition of acid resulted in the lowering of the smoking point. 1931 Industr. & Engin. Chem. (Analyt. Ed.) 15 Oct. 348/2 Take the temperature at which the first wisp of smoke is seen rising from the top of the flask as the smoking point. |
| 1915 Jrnl. Home Econ. VII. 535 The smoking temperature of a fat may be defined as the temperature at which the fat gives off visible fumes. 1945 ABC of Cookery (Ministry of Food) xii. 46 A good frying fat is one that can be heated to a high temperature..before it smokes and burns, that is, it has a high smoking temperature. 1951 Smoking temperature [see smoke point s.v. smoke n. 11]. |
▪ II. smoking, ppl. a. (
ˈsməʊkɪŋ)
[f. smoke v.] 1. a. Emitting or giving out smoke. Also
fig.,
spec. as
smoking gun,
smoking pistol (
U.S.), a piece of incontrovertible incriminating evidence.
| c 1374 Chaucer Boeth. i. metr. iv. (1868) 12 Þe vnstable mountaigne þat hyȝt veseuus, þat wircheþ oute..smokyng fires. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xii. 20 He shal nat quenche smokynge flax. c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle iii. vii. (Caxton, 1483) 55 The forneis was al enflammed with smokyng fyre. 1592 Kyd Sp. Trag. i. i, Ere Sol had..slakte his smoaking charriot in her floud. 1611 Cotgr., Fumeau, a brand, or smoaking sticke. a 1700 Evelyn Diary 7 Sept. 1666, Clambering over heaps of yet smoking rubbish. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxx. (1787) III. 171 The prospect of the smoking ruins. 1815 Scott Guy M. viii, This day have ye quenched seven smoking hearths. 1894 Doyle S. Holmes 93 The chaplain stood with a smoking pistol in his hand. |
| fig. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 331 Lanfrank..despisede þe smokynge..speche of mysbyleved men. 1587 Greene Euphues Wks. (Grosart) VI. 176 Hir heart offred smoaking thoughtes to Venus. 1677 W. Row Suppl. Life R. Blair (1848) x. 171 Our smoking desires for a more strict union..did break forth into a vehement flame. 1974 New Yorker 21 Oct. 135/1 Some are still searching for what has come to be termed ‘the murder weapon’—or ‘the smoking gun’—the definitive piece of evidence that the President committed a crime. 1975 Collier's Year Bk. 10/2 After the new transcripts were disclosed..members of Congress abandoned Nixon in droves. ‘I guess we have found the smoking pistol, haven't we?’ asked Representative Barber Conable. 1976 Woodward & Bernstein Final Days 269 Buzhardt felt that here was a potential smoking gun. Ibid. 271 He had heard the President approve the plan, he had heard him suggest the exact wording. Buzhardt had found the ‘smoking pistol’. He had heard the President load it, aim and fire. 1977 Time 19 Sept. 24/2 In fact, there may well be no ‘smoking gun’—no incontrovertible, black-and-white evidence of wrong-doing by Lance. 1979 N.Y. Times 12 Jan. D14 We haven't got a smoking pistol. Unfortunately, everyone is zeroing in on this as a cause, but the case isn't that strong. |
b. Of a chimney:
= smoky a. 1 b.
| 1667 Collins in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 482, I have been troubled with smoking chimneys. 1693 Evelyn De la Quint. Compl. Gard. 77 A House with Smoaking Chimneys. 1728 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Smoak, There are various Inventions for preventing and curing Smoaking Chimneys. |
2. a. Giving out steam or vapour, sending up fine dust or spray, etc.
| 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 21 Their Steeds, That stain'd their Fetlockes in his smoaking blood. 1607 ― Cor. i. iv. 11 That we with smoaking swords may march from hence. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 794 'Tis Time to set at Ease the smoaking Horse. 1716 Pope Iliad vii. 382 The victim falls; they strip the smoaking hide. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 517 The smoaking manure. 1848 Dickens Dombey li, They have hot suppers every night,..with smoking drinks upon the board. 1888 Stevenson Black Arrow 184 The Good Hope continued to tear through the smoking waves. |
b. quasi-adv. in
smoking-hot.
| 1816 Keatinge Trav. (1817) I. 219 The paunch of a goat..cut out, and applied..smoking hot, to the part. 1842 S. Lover Handy Andy xxi, Where tea and coffee, toast and muffins,..were all smoking-hot together. |
3. Characterized by, addicted to, the smoking of tobacco. Also
transf. and
absol.| 1617 R. Brathwait (title), The Smoaking Age, or The man in the mist: with The life and death of Tobacco. Ibid. 174 More guerdon doe I receive of my love from the sleeping Dormouse, than the smoaking Gallants. 1888 G. Trumbull Birds 21 [The Widgeon is] known to voyageurs throughout the Fur Countries as Smoking-Duck. [Note.] Probably because its note was thought to resemble the puffing sound made while smoking. 1890 Pall Mall G. 29 Sept. 3/3 The lazy, the drunken, the smoking, the thriftless. |
Hence
ˈsmokingly adv., smokily.
| 1824 Lady Granville Lett. (1894) I. 334, I told you she was uncomfortably, smokingly lodged. |