smoking

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The practice of burning tobacco and inhaling the smoke that it produces.

   Smoking remains one of the leading preventable causes of disease.

   The airline banned smoking on all of its flights decades ago.

   Note

   As the name of a habit it is normally uncountable and takes no article: Smoking can lead to lung cancer, never a smoking. The plural smokings does exist, and it counts separate occasions rather than the practice itself. This is also the meaning the bare word now calls up. When the substance is something else, as with cannabis and the like, speakers usually name it outright.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle and gerund of smoke.

   The pitmaster is smoking a whole brisket for the festival.

   Visitors caught the locals smoking fish over open fires.

   Note

   The verb form that does double duty. With be it builds progressive tenses (the pitmaster is smoking a brisket), and as a gerund it names the activity (smoking fish takes patience). It covers every use of smoke, with or without an object: a person smoking a pipe, fish being smoked, or a fireplace that is smoking because a poor draft sends smoke into the room instead of up the chimney.

3. 3
   adjective

   Releasing or giving off smoke, as from something burning or recently put out.

   A smoking candlewick filled the small room with a sharp smell.

   She stamped out the smoking remains of the campfire before leaving.

   Note

   Behind the plain adjective sits an older word. Old English smociende was a participle meaning "emitting smoke." The nouns, such as the tobacco habit, come instead from Middle English smokyng, built with -ing. The two endings later merged. That is why a smoking candlewick, which gives off smoke, and smoking in "smoking can lead to lung cancer" look identical but have different histories.

4. 4
   noununcountable

   The burning and inhaling of substances other than tobacco, such as marijuana.

   Smoking cannabis affects coordination and short-term memory.

   He switched from smoking to edibles to spare his lungs.

5. 5
   noununcountable

   The exposing of something to smoke, especially the curing or flavoring of foods by smoke.

   Cold smoking preserves the fish without fully cooking it.

   Traditional smoking of sausages can last several days over smoldering hardwood.

6. 6
   noununcountable

   The act or process of releasing smoke into the air, as from a fire or engine.

   The smoking of damp wood produced thick gray clouds over the yard.

   Heavy smoking from the exhaust pipe usually signals engine trouble.

7. 7
   adjectiveslang

   Displaying remarkable skill, talent, or flair in a performance.

   The quarterback put on a smoking display in the final quarter.

   Critics called her debut album smoking from start to finish.

   Similarbrilliant, blistering, sizzling

   Note

   Praise for doing, not for looks: a band puts on a smoking performance, and an album can be smoking from start to finish. The noun it modifies is what tells it apart from the "attractive" slang, since one word serves both. Like that sense it is casual. It suits fan reviews and conversation but is out of place in a formal assessment, where outstanding or virtuosic do the same work.

8. 8
   adjectiveslang

   Strikingly sexually attractive, usually said of a woman.

   He told his friends the woman across the bar was absolutely smoking.

   The magazine cover featured a smoking model in a red gown.

   Similarhot, sexy, gorgeous

   Note

   Slang about looks, mostly heard in exclamations like That woman is smoking! It sits as easily after the verb as before a noun. It is usually said of women and rates appearance alone, so it belongs in banter among friends. At work or in writing it can sound crude. When the thing described is a performance rather than a person, the word means skill on show instead.

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