▪ I. smitch, n.1 Now dial.
Forms: 1–2 smic, smyc, 3 smyche, 3, 9 smiche, 9– smitch.
[OE. sm{iacu}c, sm{yacu}c, var. of sméc (see smeech n. and smeek n.), with development of form as in d{iacu}c ditch.]
Smoke arising from burning or smouldering matter; also dial., grime, dirt, dust, smut, etc.
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. iii. xi. 142 Swelce se bitresta smic upp astiᵹe. c 1000 ælfric Gen. xix. 28 Abraham..ᵹeseah, hu þa ysla up fluᵹon mid þam smice. a 1100 in Napier O.E. Glosses 108/1 Ut fumus euanescens,..swaswa ᵹewitende smyc. c 1250 Hymn in Trin. Coll. Hom. App. 258 He vs bouchte..of bitter helle fur & of þe fule smiche. c 1275 Sinners Beware 95 in O.E. Misc., Heo schule..in helle smyche Acoryen hit ful wraþe. |
| 1847 Halliw., Smitch, dirt, but generally applied to smoke or dust. West. 1880 W. Cornwall Gloss. 52/2 Smitch, the smell or smoke arising from anything burnt in frying. |
▪ II. smitch, n.2 (and adv.) Sc. and U.S.
(smɪtʃ)
[Of doubtful origin: cf. smit n.2]
A particle, bit. Also used adverbially (rare).
Smitchel is also used in the same sense in U.S.
| c 1840 J. Ramsay Eglinton Park Meeting xxxv, Every smitch o't was a kin' o' red. 1884 Advance (Chicago) 10 July, A little smitch of an island. 1963 M. McCarthy Group viii. 177 Neat but not gaudy, in a plain skirt and shirtwaist,..an old cameo brooch..—general effect a smitch Victorian. |
▪ III. smitch, v. Now dial.
(smɪtʃ)
[f. smitch n.1]
trans. To affect with smoke or smut.
| 1621 G. Sandys Ovid's Met. v. (1626) 101 That soile..Now barren grew... Now, too much drouth annoys; now, lodging showres: Stars smitch, winds blast. 1878 E. W. L. Davies Mem. J. Russell 71 The country-people..left their milk-pans on the fire till the cream was ‘smitched’, or perhaps burned. |