smooth

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smooth

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• smeeth (dialectal)
• (verb, archaic): smoothe

From Middle English smothe, smethe, from Old English smēþe, smōþ, both from Proto-West Germanic *smanþī, of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots smuith (“smooth”), Low German smood and smödig (“smooth, malleable, ductile”), Dutch smeuïg (“smooth”) (from earlier smeudig).

• IPA^(key): /smuːð/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio:

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• Rhymes: -uːð

smooth (comparative smoother, superlative smoothest)

1. Having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.
   • 1695, C[harles] A[lphonse] du Fresnoy, translated by John Dryden, De Arte Graphica. The Art of Painting, […], London: […] J[ohn] Heptinstall for W. Rogers, […], →OCLC:

     The outlines must be smooth, […] imperceptible to the touch, and even, without eminence or cavities.

   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action. ¶ Near her wandered her husband, orientally bland, invariably affable, […].

   • 2005, Lesley Brown, Sophist, translation of original by Plato, page 229e:

     Teaching that’s done by talking seems to have one rough path and another part which is smoother.

2. Without difficulty, problems, or unexpected consequences or incidents.

   We hope for a smooth transition to the new system.

   • 2011, Phil McNulty, “Euro 2012: Montenegro 2-2 England”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     England's path to Poland and Ukraine next summer looked to be a smooth one as goals from Ashley Young and Darren Bent gave them a comfortable lead after 31 minutes.

3. Bland; glib.
   • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, (please specify the page):

     This smooth discourse and mild behavior oft / Conceal a traitor.

   • 1912, Gustavus Myers, History of the Supreme Court of the United States, page 133:

     This feeling, grounded on the experience of centuries of oppression, was not to be allayed by smooth explanations on the part of the advocates of the Constitution.

4. Flowing or uttered without check, obstruction, or hesitation; not harsh; fluent.
   • 1670, John Milton, The History of Britain:

     the only smooth poet of those times

   • 1737, [Alexander Pope], The First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace, Imitated, London: […] T. Cooper, […], →OCLC, page 16:

     VValler vvas ſmooth; but Dryden taught to join / The varying verſe, the full reſounding line, / The long majetſic march, and energy divine.

   • 1713 (indicated as 1714), [John] Gay, “Book III”, in The Fan. A Poem. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 23:

     VVhen bright Minerva roſe, / From her ſvveet Lips ſmooth Elocution flovvs, […]

5. Suave; sophisticated.
   • 2003, T. Lewis Humphrey, The Price of Love, →ISBN, page 279:

     He was so smooth and handsome. He knew just what to say and when to say it.

6. (of an action) Natural; unconstrained.
   • 2006, Mary Kay Moskal, Camille Blachowicz, Reading for Fluency, →ISBN, page 3:

     In order for a reading to be smooth and effortless, readers must be able to recognize and read words accurately, automatically, and quickly.

7. (of a motion) Unbroken.
   • 1927, United States National Guard Bureau, Manual of Basic Training and Standards of Proficiency for the National Guard, page 181:

     Demonstrate first by the numbers and then as one smooth movement.

8. (chiefly of water) Placid, calm.
   • 1898, John Donaldson Ford, An American Cruiser in the East, page 47:

     As we worked to the southward, we picked up fair weather, and enjoyed smooth seas and pleasant skies.

9. (of an edge) Lacking projections or indentations; not serrated.
   • 1994, Robert E. Swanson, A Field Guide to the Trees and Shrubs of the Southern Appalachians, →ISBN, page 8:

     A leaf having a smooth margin, without teeth or indentations of any kind, is called entire.

   • 1997, Christopher Dickey, Innocent Blood: A Novel, →ISBN, page 91:

     Out of the handles flipped the smooth blade and the serrated blade, which was dangerously sharp, the flathead screwdrivers, the Phillips screwdriver, the can opener, the awl.

10. (of food or drink) Not grainy; having an even texture.
    • 1997, Lou Seibert Pappas, Sorbets and Ice Creams, →ISBN, page 19:

      A compact and stylish design, it produces 1 generous quart of excellent, smooth ice cream in 20 to 25 minutes.

11. (of a beverage) Having a pleasantly rounded flavor; neither rough nor astringent.
    • 2002, Candace Irvin, For His Eyes Only, →ISBN, page 9:

      The coffee was smooth, so smooth she took another sip.

12. (mathematics, of a function) Having derivatives of all finite orders at all points within the function’s domain.
    • 2003, Eric W. Weisstein, CRC Concise Encyclopedia of Mathematics, →ISBN, page 419:

      Any ANALYTIC FUNCTION is smooth. But a smooth function is not necessarily analytic.

13. (mathematics, of a number) That factors completely into small prime numbers.
14. (linguistics, classical studies, of a vowel) Lacking marked aspiration.
    • 1830, Benjamin Franklin Fisk, A Grammar of the Greek Language, page 5:

      Οὐ becomes οὐκ before a smooth vowel, and οὐχ before an aspirate.

15. (of muscles, medicine) Involuntary and non-striated.

• (having a texture lacking friction): even
• (without difficulty or problems): fluid

• rough
• uneven
• bumpy

smooth (comparative smoother, superlative smoothest)

1. Smoothly.
   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:

     Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep.

smooth (plural smooths)

1. Something that is smooth, or that goes smoothly and easily.
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 27:16:

     The smooth of his neck.

   • 1861 January – 1862 August, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, The Adventures of Philip on His Way through the World; […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1862, →OCLC:

     I think you and I will take the ups and the downs , the roughs and the smooths of this daily existence and conversation

   • 1860, Anne Manning, The Day of Small Things‎^[2], page 81:

     Things are often equalized by roughs and smooths being set against one another.

2. A smoothing action.
   • 2006, Julienne Van Loon, Road Story‎^[3], →ISBN, page 12:

     She brushes down her hair with a little bit of spit and a smooth of her hand and opens the bright green door, walking a few metres, squinting.

3. A domestic animal having a smooth coat.
   • 1916, William Ernest Castle, Sewall Wright, Studies of Inheritance in Guinea-pigs and Rats‎^[4], page 104:

     In the 4-toe stock there is a wide gap between the lowest rough and the smooths which come from the same parents.

4. A member of an anti-hippie fashion movement in 1970s Britain.
   • 1999, Peter Childs, Mike Storry, Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture‎^[5], →ISBN, page 188:

     By the early 1970s, skinhead culture began to mutate into the variant ‘white ethnic’ styles of the suedeheads and smooths.

5. (statistics) The analysis obtained through a smoothing procedure.
   • 1990, Wolfgang Härdle, Applied Nonparametric Regression‎^[6], →ISBN, page 17:

     A smooth of the potato data set has already been given in Figure 1.2.

smooth (third-person singular simple present smooths, present participle smoothing, simple past and past participle smoothed)

1. (transitive) To make smooth or even.
   • 1961, William Gibson, The Miracle Worker‎^[7], →ISBN, page 37:

     She smooths her skirt, looking as composed and ladylike as possible.

   Synonym: smoothen

2. (transitive) To reduce to a particular shape or form by pressure; to press, to flatten.

   to smooth cloth with a smoothing iron

3. (transitive) To make straightforward or easy.
   • 2007, Beth Kohn, Lonely Planet Venezuela, page 379:

     Caracas can be a tough place but the tremendously good-natured caraqueños smoothed my passage every step of the way.

4. (transitive) To calm or palliate.

   to smooth a person's temper

5. (statistics, image processing, digital audio) To capture important patterns in the data, while leaving out noise.
   • 1999, Murray R. Spiegel, Larry J. Stephens, Schaum’s Outline of Theory and Problems of Statistics‎^[8], →ISBN, page 457:

     […] the 7-month moving averages provide better smoothing of the data in this case than do the 3-month moving averages.

6. (West Country) To stroke; especially to stroke an animal's fur.

   Can I smooth your cat?

• smoothing on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• shtoom