secondhand smoke

noun

: tobacco smoke that is exhaled by smokers or is given off by burning tobacco and is inhaled by persons nearby

Examples of secondhand smoke in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Litigation revealed that industry leaders worked to redirect attention away from marketing practices, product design, and secondhand smoke. —Time, 19 Dec. 2025

This includes avoiding secondhand smoke as much as possible. —Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 8 Dec. 2025

In his veto message, Evers said the bill would have a negative impact on the public health of people in Wisconsin, due to secondhand smoke in establishments that would allow smoking under the bill. —Laura Schulte, jsonline.com, 5 Dec. 2025

Monkeys have since been central to efforts to transplant organs (and prevent their rejection), to refine treatments for diabetes, to understand the effects of lead poisoning and secondhand smoke, and to test immunotherapies for cancer. —Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1891, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for secondhand smoke

• artichoke
• nanticoke
• womenfolk
• awoke
• baroque
• bespoke
• colloque
• convoke
• evoke
• invoke
• keystroke
• kinfolk

Kids Definition

secondhand smoke

noun

: tobacco smoke that is exhaled by smokers or is given off by burning tobacco and is inhaled by persons nearby

Medical Definition

secondhand smoke

noun

sec·​ond·​hand smoke ˌsek-ᵊn(d)-ˌhan(d)- 

: tobacco smoke that is exhaled by a smoker or is given off by burning tobacco (as of a cigarette) and is inhaled by persons nearby

called also passive smoke