smut

¹smut

verb \ˈsmət\

smut·tedsmut·ting

Definition of SMUT

transitive verb

1

: to stain or taint with smut

2

: to affect (a crop or plant) with smut

intransitive verb

: to become affected by smut

Origin of SMUT

probably alteration of earlier smot to stain, from Middle English smotten; akin to Middle High German smutzen to stain

First Known Use: 1587

Rhymes with SMUT

but, butt, cut, glut, gut, hut, jut, mutt, nut, putt, rut, scut, shut, slut, soot, strut, tut, ut, what

²smut

noun

Definition of SMUT

1

: matter that soils or blackens; specifically : a particle of soot

2

: any of various destructive diseases especially of cereal grasses caused by parasitic basidiomycetous fungi (order Ustilaginales) and marked by transformation of plant parts into dark masses of spores; also : a fungus causing a smut

3

: obscene language or matter

Examples of SMUT

1. Smut is not allowed in this house.
2. obscenity laws that aimed to stamp out smut

First Known Use of SMUT

1664

Related to SMUT

Synonyms

crud, dirt, grime, gunk, muck, filth, soil

Related Words

scum, sewage, sewerage, slime, sludge, swill; dross, dust [British], garbage, junk, litter, refuse, rubbish, scrap, trash, waste; crock [dialect], soot; dinginess, dirtiness, dustiness, filthiness, foulness, griminess, grubbiness, nastiness, squalidness, uncleanliness, uncleanness

Near Antonyms

cleanliness, cleanness

smut

noun \ˈsmət\   (Medical Dictionary)

Medical Definition of SMUT

: any of various destructive diseases especially of cereal grasses caused by parasitic fungi (order Ustilaginales); also : a fungus causing a smut

smut

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Disease of cereals, corn, grasses, onion, and sorghum, caused by many species of fungi (see fungus). Spores accumulate in sootlike masses (sori) that form within blisters in seeds, leaves, stems, flower parts, and bulbs. The sori usually break up into a black powder that is readily dispersed by wind. Many smut fungi enter embryos or seedling plants, develop throughout the plant, and appear externally only as the plants near maturity. Other smuts are localized, infecting actively growing tissues. Control includes growing resistant varieties in noninfested soil, treating seeds with fungicide, using disease-free transplants, and destroying infected plants or plant parts before the spores are released.