smut

C2 · Proficiency Countable noun Literary

n. a small piece of dirt, soot, or ash that makes a mark on something.

n. a flake of soot or ash; also the collective black matter produced by incomplete combustion.

“A piece of smut from the chimney landed on her white dress.”

“The industrial fog left a fine layer of black smut on every windowsill in the district.”

C2 · Proficiency Uncountable noun Science Technical

n. a type of fungus that grows on crops like corn and wheat, making them turn black.

n. any of various parasitic fungi of the order Ustilaginales that cause plant diseases characterized by black, soot-like masses of spores.

“The farmer was worried that the corn smut would spread to the rest of the field.”

“Agricultural researchers are developing new hybrids resistant to common cereal smut, which can otherwise devastate annual yields.”

C2 · Proficiency Literary

v. to make something dirty with soot or coal.

v. to stain, smudge, or blacken a surface with soot, coal, or similar grime.

“His face was smutted with coal dust after working in the cellar all day.”

“The smoke from the passing locomotive smutted the laundry hanging on the line, much to the residents' annoyance.”