smut
/smʌt/ (bre, ipa) · /smʌt/ (ame, ipa) · /ˈsmət/ (ame, mw)
smut — noun
- smutsingular
- smutsplural
1. writing, photos, films, or jokes about sex that many people see as rude or shock
writing, photos, films, or jokes about sex that many people see as rude or shocking.
Nadia's grandmother refused to keep any smut on the bookshelf in her living room.
uncountable: 'any smut'
The new website was banned for selling smut to teenagers across three countries.
collocation: sell / ban smut
Half the jokes in the comedy show were pure smut, so several parents walked out.
The old magazine was full of smut, with photos no library would put on its shelves.
Valentina threw away a box of smut she found hidden under her brother's bed.
- pornography
more formal and neutral; smut adds a tone of disgust
- filth
informal; also covers offensive talk beyond sex
用法筆記
Uncountable and disapproving: the speaker is judging the material as cheap or offensive, not just describing sexual content neutrally.
常見錯誤
2. a black mark, or the dirty powder such as soot, that is left behind after someth
a black mark, or the dirty powder such as soot, that is left behind after something burns and rubs onto a surface.
Rania wiped a streak of smut off the white wall above the old coal fire.
collocation: wipe off smut
After cleaning the chimney, Lan found smut on her sleeves, her face, and her boots.
The factory chimneys left a layer of smut on every windowsill in the narrow street.
A small smut from the candle had landed on the clean tablecloth.
用法筆記
Distinguish from sense 1: this sense is about physical black dirt from burning, never about sexual content. Often appears with 'wipe', 'layer', or 'streak'.
3. a disease of crops such as wheat and corn, caused by a fungus that turns parts o
a disease of crops such as wheat and corn, caused by a fungus that turns parts of the plant into black dusty spores.
Smut destroyed nearly half of Chidi's wheat before he could harvest the field.
collocation: smut destroys / affects a crop
The farming guide explains how smut spreads from one corn plant to the next.
Scientists at the institute are testing seeds that can resist smut and other fungal diseases.
Black dust from the smut covered Mira's hands as she pulled up the sick plants.
用法筆記
A specialist farming and biology term. Distinguish from sense 2: here the black material is fungal spores on a living crop, not soot from a fire.
smut — verb
- smutpresent simple I / you / we / they
- smuts3rd person singular
- smutting-ing form
- smuttedpast simple
1. to leave dirty black marks on something using soot, ash, or other burnt material
to leave dirty black marks on something using soot, ash, or other burnt material.
The thick smoke from the fire smutted every painting on the gallery wall.
transitive: smut + object
Yael was careful not to smut her white gloves while clearing out the old grate.
Years of candle smoke had smutted the ceiling of the small village church.
Nila warned the children not to smut their clean shirts on the fireplace bricks.
文法句型
smut + something
用法筆記
Rare and somewhat old-fashioned; the subject is usually smoke, soot, or a sooty object. Distinguish from verb sense 2, which is about plant disease.
2. to give a crop the fungal disease called smut, or for a crop to catch this disea
to give a crop the fungal disease called smut, or for a crop to catch this disease.
The wet summer smutted much of the barley grown along the river valley.
transitive: weather smuts a crop
If the corn smuts early, Vivek will lose most of his income for the year.
intransitive: 'the corn smuts'
Untreated seeds can smut an entire field within a single growing season.
Élise noticed that the oats had smutted again, just like the previous spring.
文法句型
smut + crop
crop + smuts
用法筆記
A specialist farming term. Used both transitively (something smuts the crop) and intransitively (the crop smuts). Distinguish from verb sense 1, which is about soot, not disease.