smoky, a. and n.
(ˈsməʊkɪ)
Also 4, 6–7, 9– (Sc.) smokie, 7, 9– smokey (common in U.S.); 6–7 smoakie, 6–9 smoaky.
[f. smoke n. + -y.]
A. adj.
1. a. Emitting smoke in considerable volume.
| 1310 St. Brendan (Bälz) 472 Þo seie hi..a lond derk inouȝ Smokie as it smyþes were. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 4122 Than is the fire..Of smoky Ethna the mounteyn. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 461/1 Smoky, fumosus. 1576 Gascoigne Philomene Wks. 1910 II. 198 A Swallowe..builds in smoky chimney toppes. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 127 To set up a percher, a taper, or a smoakie torch. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 775 They vse smokie fires in their rooms. c 1663 Cowley To Light xv, In Sympathizing Night he rowls his smoaky Fires. 1726 Gay Fables I. xxiii. 11 A wrinkled Hag..Beside a little smoaky flame Sat hov'ring. 1818 Byron Beppo xliii, Where reeking London's smoky caldron simmers. 1884 St. James' Gaz. 25 July 4/2 Letting off a quantity of the noisiest and smokiest fireworks procurable. |
b. Of a chimney: Inclined to send out smoke into the room.
| 1639 J. Smyth in Glouc. Gloss. (1890) 201 If many gossips sit against a smokey chimney the smoke will bend to the fairest. 1785 Franklin (title), Observations on Smoky Chimneys. 1844 Emerson Ess. ii. Nature, It..cured the smoky chimney, silenced the creaking door. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 141 The down current coming in puffs is one cause of smoky chimneys. |
2. Of vapour, mist, etc.: Having the character or appearance of smoke; resembling smoke; smoke-like.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus iii. 628 Every maner womman that was there, Hadde of that smoky reyn a verray fere. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxxvi. (Bodl. MS.), Þe breeste..putteþ oute smoky vapour þat is ibred in þe hert. 1426 Lydg. De. Guil. Pilgr. 11034 Two ful vnkouth skyes..off smoky mystes & vapours. a 1542 Wyatt Ps. li. 20 There had owt off the sowth A lewk warme wynd browght forth a smoky rayne. 1662 H. Hibbert Body of Divinity i. 205 By breathing..the gross and more smoky spirits are exhaled out of the breast. 1743 Davidson æneid vii. 203 The Smoaky Fluid in Foam overflows. 1784 Cowper Task v. 105 The light and smoky mist. 1817 J. Bradbury Trav. Amer. 259 The atmosphere..becomes hazy, or what they term smoky. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exped. xxix. (1856) 246 The frost-smoke was in smoky banks to the north-west. |
3. a. Full of, or charged with, smoke; rendered offensive or disagreeable by the presence of smoke.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. iii. (Bodl. MS.), Þere⁓fore here mewes moste be ferre fro smoky places. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 6638 Anoon as he his torche hath queynt, The smoky air..Ran..in lengthe and brede. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 161 O, he is..Worse then a smoakie House. 1608 D. T. Ess. Pol. & Mor. 39 To lodge within the inclosure of a smokie roofe. 1700 T. Brown tr. Fresny's Amusements 116 At the Bar..a charming Phillis or two, invite you..into their smoaky Territories. 1749 Berkeley Word to the Wise Wks. III. 440 It takes the peasant from his smoky cabin into the fresh air. 1806 Med. Jrnl. XV. 366 Ozanne received them in a smoaky hut. 1869 E. A. Parkes Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 107 The effect of smoky town atmospheres in producing lung affections. 1891 C. T. C. James Rom. Rigmarole 18 All through a smoky evening I spent in that inn parlour. |
b. Blackened or begrimed by smoke.
| 1552 Elyot Dict., Fumosæ imagines, olde smoky images. 1588 Greene Metamorphosis Wks. (Grosart) IX. 50 Wilt thou..seeke with the smoky Cyclops to kisse Venus hand? 1634 Milton Comus 324 In lowly sheds With smoky rafters. 1848 Dickens Dombey xxiii, The two trees with the smoky trunks were blighted high up. |
c. Foggy, misty. Now rare exc. in proper names. U.S.
| 1769 in Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. (1877) XIV. 262 This week much smoky. 1824 J. Doddridge Notes on Virginia xxxi. 266 The smokey time commenced, and lasted for a considerable number of days. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 105 See'd him jess now, comin' over the smoky mountain there. 1971 N.Y. Times Encycl. Almanac 1971 243/1 In East Tennessee are the Great Smoky and Cumberland Mountains of the Appalachian range. |
4. fig. Having the obscuring, objectionable, or unsubstantial qualities of smoke. Obs.
| 1533 More Answ. Poysoned Bk. Wks. 1035/1 The pestilent contagion of al such smoky communicacion. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osorius 277 b, Besides vayne crakes of smoky speeches, ye shewe no demonstration of sounde proofe. 1624 Skinner in Parr Life Usher (1686) 358 Other points these devilish Spirits of the Jesuits..by their smoaky Doctrine do resist. 1633 Hart Diet of Diseased ii. xiv. 193 Their smoakie promises not being seconded by answerable events. |
5. a. Having the flavour or odour of smoke; tasting or smelling of smoke.
| 1542 Becon Potation for Lent Wks. 1564 I. i. 45 From a smokie pece of Bacon. 1707 Floyer Physic. Pulse-Watch 332 The smoaky Bitters, Cichory, Carduus. 1892 Walsh Tea 93 The ‘smoky’ and ‘tarry’ flavors possessed by many of them. 1951 E. David French Country Cooking 26 The smoky wines of Pouilly-sur-Loire. 1978 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 19 Feb. 17/3 Smoky, a delicate aroma that is found in several white wines, often originating from the volcanic soil, and also on the bouquet of Madeira as a result of the latter's special estufado heat treatment. |
b. fig. Of the sound of a musical instrument or voice.
| 1958 G. Boatfield in P. Gammond Decca Bk. Jazz xxiv. 312 Noone's deceptively easy clarinet and Kelly's smoky trumpet are noteworthy. 1966 Cavalier Daily (Univ. of Virginia) 11 Nov. 1 The smooth, smoky sound of the Platters combined with their expressive hand jive will entertain students from 9 to 1 Friday night. |
6. a. Of the colour of smoke; dark, dusky; spec. of a brownish or bluish shade of grey.
| 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 280 Halfe an houre after the rysynge it appeareth troubeled dymme and smoky. 1598 B. Jonson Ev. Man in Hum. i. iii, To conceale such reall ornaments..as a Millaners wife do's her wrought stomacher, with a smokie lawne, or a black cypresse. 1647 Hexham i. (Colours), A Smokie colour, een roock verwe. 1750 tr. Leonardus' Mirr. Stones 38 Blackness is occasion'd by a smoaky and adust terrene. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) II. 196 The red and smoky colour of their flowers. 1855 Brewster Life Newton I. vii. 171 A large crystal of quartz of a smoky colour. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 288 If it is present in small quantities only, the urine will be smoky. |
b. In names of stones, esp. smoky quartz.
| 1797 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 3) XII. 82/1 Blackish brown, smoky topaz, or rauch topaz of the Germans. 1837 Dana Min. 340 Smoky quartz is a transparent, or translucent crystalline variety, having a smoky color. 1883 Encycl. Brit. XVI. 389 The brown or Smoky Quartz (coloured by a substance containing carbon and nitrogen). |
c. In names of moths, bats, birds, etc.
| 1827 Griffith tr. Cuvier V. 63 Molossus Fumarius (Smoky Bulldog Bat). 1832 J. Rennie Butterfl. & Moths 87 The Smoky Wainscot. Ibid. 142 The Smoky Wave. 1871 Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 320 The Smoky Mastiff Bat is a well-known South American species. 1884 Coues N. Amer. Birds 419 Psilorhinus, Brown Jays. Smoky Pies. |
7. Qualifying names of colours.
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. A 4 All smokie blacke as Pitch. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Enfer, A darke, and smoakie browne. 1629 Parkinson Parad. 182 The three [leaves] that stand upright [are] of a smoakie yellow. 1706 Lond. Gaz. No. 4249/4 Lost.., a smoaky gray Horse. 1837 Penny Cycl. VII. 26/2 Upper part of the neck smoky red. 1869 [see Kentish a. 3 b]. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 194 The belly smoky-gray in some localities. 1934 Webster, Smoky⁓blue. 1934 Discovery June 166/2 Plain burnished red ware and smoky grey pottery. 1974 Men's Wear 29 Aug. 17/2 Smokey-navy motifs on beige. 1976 H. Tracy Death in Reserve xi. 87 A smoky-blue spring evening. 1980 New Age (U.S.) Oct. 58 (Advt.), Danish Souperbag..In wilderness rust brown, battleship grey, parrot green, smokey black. |
8. Steaming, reeking; rising in fine spray.
| c 1590 Marlowe Faustus 1448 My limbes may issue from your smoaky mouthes. 1594 Kyd Cornelia v. 323 Fro the wound the smoky blood ran bubling. 1697 Dryden æneid v. 185 Lash'd with their Oars, the smoaky Billows rise; Sparkles the briny Main, and the vex'd Ocean fries. 1725 Pope Odyss. x. 150 Their oars they seize, And sweep with equal strokes the smoky seas. 1807 J. Barlow Columb. iii. 523 [They] then part the smoky flesh, enjoy the feast. |
9. Addicted to, associated with, the smoking of tobacco.
| 1596 Nashe Saffron Walden Wks. (Grosart) III. 158 And to approue his Heraldrie, scutchend out the honourable Armes of the smoakie Societie. 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 827 To which opinion, for the excellence of the Tobacco there found, he should happily have the smokie subscriptions of many Humorists. 1806 Lamb in Ainger Life (1882) 65 A smoky man must write smoky farces. 1893 Daily News 26 Dec. 5/1 The sodden and smokey young men who may be found watching football matches. |
† 10. Quick to suspect or take note; shrewd, sharp, suspicious. Obs.
The Dict. Cant. Crew (a 1700) also gives ‘jealous’.
| 1688 Shadwell Sqr. Alsatia iii. i, They shall find me a smoaky Thief. Ibid. iv. iv, I am sharp and smoaky. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 132 ¶3 Thou art, I see, a smoaky old Fellow, and I'll be very orderly the ensuing Part of the Journey. 1765 Foote Commissary i. (1782) 23 This old brother of ours tho' is smoaky and shrewd, and tho' an odd, a sensible fellow. 1784 R. Bage Barham Downs II. 132 She is what you call a smoky damsel. |
11. U.S. Of horses: Vicious.
| 1899 Scribner's Mag. XXV. 13/2 Cow-boys often call vicious horses ‘smoky’ horses. |
12. Comb., as smoky-bearded, smoky-flavoured, smoky-tinted, smoky-voiced, smoky-winged; smoky-looking, smoky-seeming, smoky-tasting, smoky-waving.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. ii. Babylon 133 Small, smoaky-waving clouds. 1610 B. Jonson Alchemist iv. vi, This Doctor, Your sooty, smoakie-bearded compeere. 1611 Speed Theat. Gt. Brit. (1614) 121/1 Certaine thicke and smoky-seeming mists. 1611 Cotgr., Enfumé,..smoakie-coloured. 1825 T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. viii. III. 124 The dingy, ill-smelling, smoky-looking coffee⁓room. 1834 Tait's Mag. I. 7/1 The smoky-flavoured Glenlivet toddy. 1862 Dana Min. 134 A smoky-tinted quartz crystal. 1925 H. Crane Let. 28 Feb. (1965) 199 Delicious smoky tasting sardines. 1973 J. J. McKelvey Man against Tsetse ii. 67 He did, however, add entomology to his accomplishments by studying the life cycle of the dark⁓eyed, smoky-winged tsetse that was causing nagana in Zululand. 1976 New Yorker 29 Mar. 6/3 A promising, smoky-voiced jazz and rhythm-and-blues singer. |
B. n.
1. dial. The hedge-sparrow.
| 1889 H. Saunders Brit. Birds 85 The Hedge-Sparrow is known by a variety of names, such as..‘Smokie’, and ‘Shuffle-wing’. 1894 in Heslop Northumbld. Gloss. |
2. Sc. A smoked haddock.
| 1891 W. Gordon in Edwards Mod. Sc. Poets Ser. xiv. 243 Will ye buy ony fish—Bonnie smokies, as cheap as they're clean? 1948 R. de Kerchove International Maritime Dict. 690/2 Scotch haddie (U.S.)... In Great Britain called smokie. 1965 Arbroath Guide 3 Apr. 4 The older generation argue that the old time ‘smokie’ is a haddock freshly caught by line and smoked in the Arbroath way. 1974 Sunday Tel. 23 June 15/5 Let us make the distinction between the genuine Arbroath smokie, which gets its colour from the actual smoke when the fish is cured, and the common kipper. 1976 Daily Record (Glasgow) 29 Nov., Arbroath's famous ‘smokie’ industry will be hit by the ban on catching haddock in the North Sea. |
3. A smoke or smoke-blue cat.
| 1898 Ladies' Field 6 Aug. 378/2 The two smokies, Cossy and Jetterina. |
4. See Smokey Bear.