smoking

chain smoke

To smoke cigarettes continuously, such that one begins a new cigarette as (or almost as) soon as the last one is extinguished. My grandmother died of emphysema after chain smoking for most of her adult life. Because I was anxiously chain smoking, I lit a fresh cigarette with the end of my last one and barely even realized I was doing it. Would you quit chain smoking like that? Give your lungs a break, sheesh.

See also: chain, smoke

find the smoking gun

To discover indisputably incriminating evidence. Likened to a gun that is still smoking, thus proving that it has been fired. Investigators found the smoking gun when they uncovered emails explicitly detailing the CEO's involvement in the money laundering scheme. So far this is only circumstantial evidence. You'll need to find the smoking gun if you want to secure a conviction. Unless you find the smoking gun, people will think you're just trying to take out a political rival with these accusations.

See also: find, gun, smoking

no smoking

A standard phrase indicating that smoking tobacco products is prohibited in a particular place. Despite the "No Smoking" sign very clearly above their heads, or perhaps because of it, people always gathered there during their cigarette breaks. "Hey, no smoking!" shouted the bartender when he saw Dave lighting a cigar.

See also: no, smoking

smoke

1. noun, slang Tobacco that has been prepared for smoking, especially a cigarette. Mind if I bum a smoke off you? I just ran out. I need to stop at the gas station and pick up a pack of smokes.

2. noun, slang An act or instance of smoking tobacco. I'm going outside for a smoke. You want to come?

3. verb, slang To smoke tobacco. Please don't smoke in your bedroom. It stinks up the whole house!

4. verb, slang To be a habitual user of smoking products, such as tobacco or marijuana. I smoked for five years, but I finally managed to quit. A: "Want a cigarette?" B: "No thanks, I don't smoke." I smoked a lot during college, but weed just makes me feel lethargic and stupid these days.

5. verb, slang To move or proceed extremely fast. The car went smoking by, with the sound of police sirens not far behind it.

6. verb, slang To perform extremely well, especially with a lot of energy or enthusiasm. The band has been absolutely smoking for the last two hours. People in the club are going crazy for them! They looked a little sluggish in the first half of the game, but the team is positively smoking now.

7. verb, slang To kill someone, especially with a gun. Go smoke that fool before he talks to the police.

8. verb, slang To defeat someone thoroughly and decisively. We all thought it would be a close game, but the home team totally smoked their cross-town rivals.

9. verb, vulgar slang To perform oral sex on (a male).

smoke (someone or something) out of (some place)

To fill a space with smoke to force a person or animal out some place. A noun or pronoun can be used between "smoke" and "out." The terrorists are in the center of the building, and will surely kill any officers who try to enter. I think our best bet is to try to smoke them out. Back on the farm, we used to smoke out rats by running a hose from the exhaust pipe of our pickup truck into their nest.

See also: of, out, smoke

smoke like a chimney

To smoke cigarettes, cigars, pipes, etc., continuously and in large amounts. My grandma smoked like a chimney and lived to be 94 years old, so I can never take people's warnings about cigarettes too seriously. Every Sunday, my father would plonk himself in his favorite armchair with the newspaper, smoking like a chimney.

See also: chimney, like, smoke

smoke out

1. Literally, to fill a space with smoke to force a person or animal out of hiding. A noun or pronoun can be used between "smoke" and "out." The terrorists are in the center of the building, and will surely kill any officers who try to enter. I think our best bet is to try to smoke them out. Back on the farm, we used to smoke out rats by running a hose from the exhaust pipe of our pickup truck into their nest.

2. To expose someone or something and bring it to the attention of the public. A noun or pronoun can be used between "smoke" and "out." We were able to smoke the crooked cop out by hiding a microphone in the back alley where he took bribes from criminals. The newspaper smoked out the government's illegal use of torture to extract information from prisoners during the war.

See also: out, smoke

smoke up

1. To emit a large amount of smoke that fills some space. A noun or pronoun can be used between "smoke" and "up." The bacon started burning and smoked up the whole kitchen. I'm so glad my father gave up cigarettes—it was always disgusting whenever he smoked the living room up.

2. slang To smoke marijuana. I smoked up way too much during college—I don't even remember those years very well! Hey, wanna come smoke up with us after work?

3. slang To invite or enable someone to smoke marijuana. A noun or pronoun can be used between "smoke" and "up." He offered to smoke me up, but I never smoke weed after I've been drinking. John, don't smoke up Tommy like that, OK? He's still in high school!

See also: smoke, up

smoking

slang Very physically attractive or exciting. Often contracted as "smokin'." A: "Wow, that woman you were talking to was smokin'!" B: "That's my cousin, dude." She pulled up in a smoking new Mercedes-Benz.

smoking gun

Indisputably incriminating evidence. Likened to a gun that is still smoking after having been fired. A smoking gun was revealed in the form of emails documenting the man's involvement in the money laundering scheme. So far the prosecutor has presented only circumstantial evidence, but she's expected to reveal a smoking gun against the defendant soon.

See also: gun, smoking

smoking hot

slang Very sexually attractive. I kept trying to work up the nerve to talk to the smoking hot guy at the other end of the bar.

See also: hot, smoking

stop cold turkey

To stop doing or using something abruptly and completely. The phrase is most often used to describe the cessation of an addiction. A noun or pronoun can be used between "stop" and "cold." I tried quitting smoking for several years, using nicotine patches, gums, and even hypnotherapy. Eventually, I just had to stop cold turkey and rely on my own willpower. I'm so impressed that you were able to stop gambling cold turkey!

See also: cold, stop, turkey

What are you smoking?

slang What are you thinking? Used imply that someone's opinion, decision, behavior, etc., is wildly absurd, nonsensical, or inappropriate. The phrase alludes to drug use. You picked bright, neon-red wallpaper for our bedroom? What are you smoking? A: "If you think about it, it makes total sense that the mainstream media is controlled by a cabal of wealthy Freemasons." B: "Dude, what are you smoking?" A: "I just bought us tickets to Tokyo! We leave next week!" B: "What are you smoking? I can't just drop everything and fly to Tokyo!"

See also: what

What was (one) smoking?

slang Used to express confusion, annoyance, or surprise at someone's past opinions, decisions, behavior, etc. The phrase alludes to the psychological impairment associated with drug use. What were you smoking when you picked out this hideous wallpaper? What were we smoking when we thought a flight at 6 AM was a good idea?

See also: what

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

smoke like a chimney

to smoke a great deal of tobacco or other smokable substances. My uncle smoked like a chimney when he was living. somebody who smokes like a chimney in a restaurant ought to be thrown out.

See also: chimney, like, smoke

smoke something up

to cause something or a place to become smoky. Get out of here with that cigarette! I don't want you smoking my house up! The burning beans sure smoked up the house.

See also: smoke, up

the smoking gun

Fig. the indisputable sign of guilt. (Fig. on a murderer being caught just after shooting the victim.) Mr. south was left holding the smoking gun. The chief of staff decided that the the aide should be found with the smoking gun.

See also: gun, smoking

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

smoke out

Expose, reveal, bring to public view, as in Reporters thrive on smoking out a scandal. This expression alludes to driving a person or animal out of a hiding place by filling it with smoke. [Late 1500s]

See also: out, smoke

smoking gun

Something that serves as indisputable evidence or proof, especially of a crime. For example, There is no smoking gun in the Oval Office; the President had no role in tampering with the evidence . This expression alludes to the smoke coming from a recently discharged firearm, a normal occurrence until the invention of smokeless powder. [Mid-1900s]

See also: gun, smoking

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

a smoking gun

COMMON If you talk about a smoking gun, you mean a piece of evidence which proves that a particular person is definitely responsible for a crime. The search for other kinds of evidence failed to produce a smoking gun. First of all, there's no smoking gun. In the course of our investigation we did not find a single piece of evidence.

See also: gun, smoking

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

smoke like a chimney

smoke tobacco incessantly.

See also: chimney, like, smoke

a smoking gun (or pistol)

a piece of incontrovertible evidence.

This phrase draws on the assumption, a staple of detective fiction, that the person found with a recently fired gun must be the guilty party. The use of the phrase in the late 20th century was particularly associated with the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s involving the US President Richard Nixon . When one of the Watergate tapes revealed Nixon's wish to limit the FBI's role in the investigation, Barber B. Conable famously commented: ‘I guess we have found the smoking pistol, haven't we?’

1998 New Scientist This genetic smoking gun is evidence of a migration out of Asia that is hard to refute.

See also: gun, smoking

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

ˌsmoke like a ˈchimney

(informal) smoke a lot of cigarettes: You think I smoke a lot? You should meet Joe — he smokes like a chimney.

See also: chimney, like, smoke

a/the ˌsmoking ˈgun

something that seems to prove that somebody has done something wrong or illegal: This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for.

See also: gun, smoking

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

smoke out

v.

1. To force someone or something out of a place by or as if by the use of smoke: The groundskeeper smoked out the gopher. The police smoked the fugitives out of their hideout.

2. To detect and bring someone or something to public view; expose or reveal someone or something: The media was quick to smoke out the scandal. The ruse was successful in smoking the culprit out.

See also: out, smoke

smoke up

v.

1. To fill some area with smoke: We forgot to open the flue, and the fire smoked up the room. The pot roast was left cooking too long, and it smoked the whole house up.

2. Slang To smoke marijuana: The members of the band would smoke up after each show.

3. Slang To provide someone or some group of people with marijuana to smoke: They smoked us up for the party, but it made us fall asleep.

See also: smoke, up

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

smoke

1. n. a tobacco cigarette; a pipe of tobacco; a cigar. I think I’ll have a smoke now.

2. n. the act of smoking anything smokable, including drugs. I need a smoke—of anything. I’m going to stop here for a smoke.

3. n. methyl alcohol; bad liquor; any liquor. They call it smoke because when you mix it with water and shake it, it’s cloudy.

4. n. exaggeration; deception. (see also blow smoke, smoke and mirrors.) If the smoke is too obvious, they’ll just get suspicious.

5. tv. to annihilate someone; to shoot someone. (Underworld.) Rocko tried time and time again to smoke Marlowe, always without success.

6. tv. to beat someone in a contest; to outrun, outdistance, or outplay someone. Jill smoked Dave in the bicycle race.

smoke like a chimney

in. to smoke a great deal of tobacco or other smokable substances. Somebody who smokes like a chimney in a restaurant ought to be thrown out.

See also: chimney, like, smoke

smoking gun

n. the indisputable sign of guilt. The chief of staff decided that the admiral should be found with the smoking gun.

See also: gun, smoking

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

smoking gun

Definite evidence of illegal or criminal activity. The term alludes to smoke emitted by a revolver or other kind of gun that has been fired, but it is also used more broadly for other kinds of malfeasance. For example, Time (Sept. 19, 1977) had it, “In fact there may be no ‘smoking gun’—no incontrovertible black-and-white evidence of wrongdoing by Lance.” The New York Times (Oct. 3, 2004) quoted National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, talking on CNN about aluminum tubes in Iraq suspected to be used for nuclear weapons, “We don’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.”

See also: gun, smoking

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer