DCHP-1 Online

smudge † 

• 1 n. a fire which gives off dense, acrid smoke from having damp moss, green grass or leaves, etc. heaped on its flames.

  See also: mosquito-smudge  smoke (def. 1)  smoke smudge  smudge bonfire  smudge fire  

  • 1801  (1897)  The women closed the openings of the cabins, and made a smudge inside.
  • 1880  The little enclosure, some ten feet square [is] fenced in to contain the extensive "smudge" of grass and leafy boughs, around which the horses gather on summer evenings to secure in the smoke a respite from the mosquitoes.
  • 1959  The man replied that he was making smudges to keep away mosquitoes

• 2 n. a can, pail, etc., often with a perforated bottom, used to build a smudge (def. 1).

  See also: smudge pot   

  • 1829  . . . they keep a smudge always at the threshold of the door of the dwelling.
  • 1921  (1923)  "Telesphore . . . make us a smudge. Take the old tin pail."
  • 1961  Flies and mosquitoes were in millions. Everywhere, when driving to town, one had to have a "smudge" in the wagon to ward them off.

• 3 n. See 1941 quote.

  • 1939  If there had been a moon, a person coming over the hills would have seen that smudge as a perfectly level sheet closing the bowl like a lid.
  • 1941  Smudge--An acrid smoke from green grass or turf for keeping mosquitoes away from a certain area.