smoke

smoke

I

smoke¹ S3 W3 /sməʊk $ smoʊk/ noun1. [uncountable] white, grey, or black gas that is produced by something burning:
    clouds of black smoke
    cigarette smoke
    Smoke from burning fields drifted across nearby roads.
    the pall of smoke (=thick cloud of smoke) that hung over the city
    wisp/puff of smoke (=a small amount of smoke)
    Rangers watched from their fire towers for any wisps of smoke.
2. [countable usually singular] an act of smoking a cigarette etc:
    He went outside for a quiet smoke.
3. go up in smoke
  a. if something goes up in smoke, it burns so that it is completely destroyed:
    The whole factory went up in smoke.
  b. informal if a plan or some work goes up in smoke, it fails or you cannot continue with it:
    We haven’t worked this long just to see everything go up in smoke.
4. [countable] spoken a cigarette or drugs that are smoked:
    Where are the smokes, Jeff?
5. there’s no smoke without fire (also where there’s smoke there’s fire) spoken used to say that if something bad is being said about someone, it is probably partly true
6. when the smoke clears when things have stopped happening and the results can be clearly seen:
    When the smoke clears, I think you'll find the company is in a stronger position.
7. the Smoke British English old-fashioned informal London or any large town or city
     

COLLOCATIONS

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + smoke
   ▪ black/blue/white/grey smoke Black smoke poured out of the engine.
   ▪ thick/dense smoke Thick smoke spread through the building.
   ▪ acrid smoke (=smelling bad and making you cough) The shop was full of thick, acrid smoke.
   ▪ cigarette/cigar/tobacco smoke The air was thick with cigarette smoke.
   ▪ wood smoke I love the scent of wood smoke.
■ phrases
   ▪ a cloud of smoke (=a large amount) He lit a cigarette and blew out a cloud of smoke.
   ▪ a billow of smoke (=a large amount of smoke from a fire) The green, fresh leaves will burn slowly, with billows of smoke.
   ▪ a pall of smoke (=a thick cloud of smoke hanging over something) A thick pall of smoke hung over Cape Town.
   ▪ a column/plume of smoke He could see a thin black column of smoke rising vertically into the sky.
   ▪ a puff of smoke (=a small amount that comes quickly from something) There was a puff of white smoke from the man's gun.
   ▪ a wisp of smoke (=a thin amount of smoke) Only a few wisps of smoke rose here and there.
■ verbs
   ▪ smoke rises Smoke was rising from the top of the tower.
   ▪ smoke billows (=large amounts come from a fire) She noticed smoke billowing out of one of the bedrooms.
   ▪ smoke drifts The cigarette smoke drifted away on the breeze.
   ▪ smoke curls Smoke curled from cooking fires next to a group of tents.
   ▪ smoke clears (=disappears) The kitchen door was still open, and inside the smoke was clearing.
   ▪ belch (out) smoke (=send out large amounts of smoke) The factories belch smoke.

II

smoke² S2 W2 verb1. [intransitive and transitive] to suck or breathe in smoke from a cigarette, pipe etc or to do this regularly as a habit:
    I don’t smoke and I don’t drink much.
    Do you mind if I smoke?
    He sat on the grass smoking a cigarette.
    He admitted that he had smoked marijuana when he was a student.
2. [intransitive] if something smokes, it has smoke coming from it:
    a smoking chimney
3. [transitive] to give fish or meat a special taste by hanging it in smoke
     
smoke somebody/something ↔ out phrasal verb
  1. to fill a place with smoke in order to force someone or something to come out:
    He smoked the bees out of their nest.
  2. to discover who is causing a particular problem and force them to make themselves known:
    an operation to smoke out double agents