See Also: smite(medicine)
smite(1)(dictionary)
smite(2)(dictionary)
smite(dictionary)

smite(2) (iou)



smite verb. , (arch.) smit, smote.
[Old English smitan smear, pollute = Old Frisian smita, Old Saxon bismitan, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch smiten (Dutch smijten), Old High German smian smear (German schmeissen throw, fling), Gothic (bi)smeitan, (ga)smeitan smear, from Germanic. Prob. ult. symbolic: cf. smirch, smudge, smut, etc.]
I. verb trans.
Pollute, blemish. Only in OE.
Smear (a substance) on something. Only in OE.
Strike with the hand, a weapon, etc.; hit, beat. Also (chiefly in biblical use), strike down, kill, slay, destroy; afflict, punish. LOE.
smite hip and thigh: see HIP noun1 1. smite under the FIFTH rib.
R. Kipling The other Sahib..smote the stabber with a short gun. G. B. Shaw By rights I should smite you dead with my scimitar. E. Bowen The tram-driver..smiting his bell.
b. Touch or strike (a harp etc.) so as to produce sound. Now poet. LME.
Strike or deliver (a blow, stroke, etc.). ME.
b. Fight (a battle). ME-M17.
Cut off with a slashing blow; cut, chop, or break in pieces etc. Long rare or obsolete. ME.
Bible (AV): Ecclesiastes 36:10 Smite in sunder the heads of the..heathen.
Knock or force away, back, down, etc. with a blow or stroke; drive, hammer, or strike (a thing) with force against, into, on, etc., something else; strike or clap together. ME.
Tennyson He smote his palms together. E. A. Freeman The last hopes of the House of Godwine had been smitten to the ground.
b. Produce (fire) by striking a stone etc. against another. ME-L17.
Bring into a certain condition by or as by striking. rare. ME.
a. Of hail, lightning, fire, etc.: strike and injure; destroy. ME.
b. (Of wind etc.) beat or dash against; (of sunlight etc.) beat or shine strongly on. LME.
W. Harris The sun smote me as I descended the steps.
Of a disease, disaster, etc.: attack, affect severely. Freq. in pass. ME.
E. Longford Three months later..he was smitten again, first with giddiness..and soon afterwards with another seizure. M. Hocking Were the village to be smitten by plague, he would stay. J. Cox Corn is a high-risk crop..Smut can smite it.
a. Impress or strike suddenly or strongly with some feeling or thought. Later also, impress favourably. Usu. in pass. ME.
L. M. Montgomery Anne had been smitten with delighted admiration when she first saw that brooch.
b. Inspire or inflame with love; enamour. Usu. in pass. M17.
M. Richler After a turbulent six years of marriage..she was still smitten with him.
Disquiet, affect painfully; distress, perturb. LME.
J. London His haggard face smote her to the heart. T. Hardy His heart smote him at the thought.
II. verb intrans.
Deliver a blow or blows; strike. (Foll. by at, on, upon.) ME.
W. de la Mare He smote upon the door..a second time.
b. Strike with a hammer in doing smith-work. Now spec., strike with a sledge. LME.
c. Of a clock: strike, chime. Long rare. LME.
a. Come together in conflict. ME-L16.
Spenser With hideous horror both together smite.
b. Knock together with force; strike or dash on or against something. Long rare or obsolete. ME.
a. Penetrate with force in, into, or through something. ME.
b. Give pain to one's heart; cause distress. rare. LME.
c. Occur suddenly to one. Foll. by in, upon. rare. LME.
smiter noun (a) arch. a person who smites; (b) (now rare or obsolete) a variety of the domestic pigeon with a habit of loudly clapping its wings in flight: ME.
smiting noun the action of the verb; an instance of this: ME.