1313
smoking
the Conservative Party in Britain from September 2001 until
October 2003. Many people thought he was rather boring
and not a strong leader, and he lost the leadership of the
party before he was able to lead the party into a general
election.
**Smith, I·an** /'i:ən/ (1919–) the Prime Minister of Rhodesia
from 1964 to 1978. He is remembered for making Rhodesia
independent of the UK in 1965 without British agreement,
with a government of only white people, although most
people in the country are black. ➔ see also ZIMBABWE
**Smith, John** (1938–94) a British politician who became leader
of the Labour Party in 1992. He was a popular leader, and a
clever and amusing speaker in Parliament. His sudden death
from a heart attack caused great shock in the UK.
**Smith, Joseph** (1805–44) a US religious leader who started
the MORMON religion. He described how an ANGEL showed
him where two golden TABLETS (=flat pieces of metal with
words cut into them) were buried in a hill in the state of
New York. He translated the writing on the tablets and it
became the *Book of Mormon*, the holy book of the Mormon
religion ➔ see also MORMON
**Smith, Oz·zie** /'ɒzi:lɑ:z-/ (1954–) a former US BASEBALL
player who played SHORTSTOP for the St Louis Cardinals
team. He won the GOLDEN GLOVE AWARD every year from
1980 to 1992, and was known as 'the Wizard'.
**Smith, Paul** (1946–) a British FASHION DESIGNER, known
especially for his high-quality men's clothing. His official title
is Sir Paul Smith.
**Smith, WH** also **WH Smith's**, **Smith's** *trademark* a shop
that sells books, pens, newspapers, cards, etc, and often also
CDs and VIDEOTAPES. Most towns in the UK and many cities
in the US have a WH Smith.
**Smith, Will** a US film actor and POP singer who started
acting in 1990 in a TV comedy series called *The Fresh Prince
of Bel Air*. His films include *Independence Day* and *Men in
Black*.
**Smith, Win·ston** /'wɪnstən/ the main character in the book
NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR (1949) by George ORWELL, who lives
in a time when the government controls everything that
people do. Smith is punished by the government because he
tries to have a romantic relationship with a woman.
**Smith and Wes·son** /ˌsmɪθ ənd ˈwesən/ *trademark* a type of
HANDGUN
**smith·er·eens** /ˌsmɪðəri:nz/ *n* (in)to smithereens *infml* into
extremely small bits; to complete destruction: *The wind-
screen of the car was smashed to smithereens in the colli-
sion.*
**Smith·field** /'smɪθfi:ld/ the name of the main meat market
in London
**Smiths, The** /smɪθs/ a British pop group from Manchester,
who were popular in the 1980s, especially with students,
and whose singer was Morrissey. Their songs were often
about being unhappy.
**Smith·so·ni·an In·sti·tu·tion, the** /ˌsmɪθˌsəʊniən
ˌɪnstɪˈtju:ʃn̩lˈtju:ʃən/ also the **Smithsonian** a large
group of different MUSEUMS and scientific institutions in
Washington, D.C., which was established in 1846 using
money left by James Smithson, an English scientist
**Smith 'Square** the place in London where CENTRAL OFFICE,
the main office of the British CONSERVATIVE PARTY, was based
between 1958 and 2004
**smith·y** /'smɪði:l-ði, -ði/ *n* a BLACKSMITH's place of work
**smit·ten** /'smɪtn/ *adj* especially *humor* in love, especially sud-
denly fond of a person ➔ compare SMITE
**smock** /smɒk‖smɑ:k/ *n* **1** a piece of clothing like a long
loose shirt, especially as worn by women, or to protect the
clothes in former times by farm workers and painters **2** a
piece of clothing worn by a woman who is PREGNANT
**smock·ing** /'smɒkɪŋ‖'smɑ:-/ *n* [U] decoration, especially on
children's dresses, made by gathering cloth into small regu-
lar folds held tightly with fancy stitching
**smog** /smɒg‖smɑ:g, smɔ:g/ *n* [U] a thick dark unpleasant
mist that is sometimes present in certain large cities because
of all the smoke and waste gases
**smoke**¹ /sməʊk/ *n* **1** [U] the usually white, grey, or black gas
produced by things burning: *Clouds of smoke belched from
the burning building.* | *A pillar of smoke rose high into the
air.* | *I love the smell of bonfire smoke.* | *The room was full of
cigarette smoke.* | *a puff/wisp of smoke* **2** [S] an act of
smoking tobacco: *There's a ten-minute break; time to have a
cup of coffee and a smoke.* **3** [C] *infml* something, especially a
cigarette, that is smoked **4** [the+S] *infml*, especially *AmE* the big
city, as opposed to the country. **5** **go up in smoke** *infml* to
have no result; come to nothing: *They withdrew their finan-
cial support, so the whole scheme went up in smoke.* **6** **There's
no smoke without fire** also **Where there's smoke there's
fire** if unfavourable things are being said about someone or
something, they are probably at least partly true. ➞**less**
*adj*: *Coke is a smokeless fuel.*
**smoke**² *v* **1** [I;T] to suck or breathe in smoke from burning
tobacco, i.e. cigarettes, a pipe etc: *I don't smoke.* | *I used to
smoke twenty (cigarettes) a day.* **2** [T] to breathe in smoke
from burning an illegal drug: *students smoking pot in the
sixties* **3** [I] to give off smoke: *smoking chimneys in the
town's industrial area* **4** [I] to give off too much smoke,
especially because it cannot escape into the air: *a smoking
fireplace* **5** [T] to preserve and give a special taste to (meat,
fish etc) by hanging it in smoke: *smoked salmon/
sausage* **6** [T] to darken with smoke, especially by allowing
smoke to settle on and cover a surface: *The sun should be
looked at only through smoked glass.*
**smoke** sbdy./sthg. ⇔ **out** *phr v* [T] to fill a place with
smoke in order to force (a person, animal etc) to come out
from hiding ➔ compare FUMIGATE
**'smoke a,larm** also **'smoke de,tector** *n* an electronic
apparatus which, when fixed in a room, will make a loud
warning sound (ALARM) when smoke is present. People are
encouraged to have one in their homes, and the law in many
US areas demands that one be used in every place where
someone lives: *The smoke alarm suddenly went off.* ➔ see
picture at ALARM
**'smoke-filled 'room** *n* a disapproving expression used to
describe the way in which decisions are sometimes made, in
politics, business, etc, by small groups of powerful people
meeting together privately: *Deals between unions and man-
agement were routinely fixed up in smoke-filled rooms.*
**,smokeless 'zone** *n* (in Britain), an area especially a big city,
where no smoke is allowed, so that only substances which
produce no smoke (**smokeless fuels**) can be burned
**smok·er** /'sməʊkər/ *n* **1** a person who smokes: *He's a heavy
smoker.* (=smokes a lot of cigarettes) **2** a railway carriage
where smoking is allowed ➔ opposite NON-SMOKER
**smoke·screen** /'sməʊkskri:n/ *n* **1** a cloud of smoke pro-
duced for hiding a place or activity from enemy
sight **2** something that hides one's real intentions: *to throw
up a smokescreen*
**'smoke ,signal** *n* a signal to people some distance away
made, especially by Native Americans in former times, by
repeatedly covering a smoking fire for particular periods of
time and then allowing the trapped smoke to rise into the
air
**smoke·stack** /'sməʊkstæk/ *n* **1** the tall chimney of a
factory or ship **2** *AmE* a FUNNEL
**'smokestack ,industry** *n* [usually pl.] especially *AmE* a branch
of industry that produces heavy goods or industrial mat-
erials, such as cars, ships, or steel
**Smo·key the Bear** /ˌsməʊki ðə 'beər/ a character used by
the US FOREST SERVICE to warn people about the need to
prevent forest fires. Smokey is a bear shown wearing a hat
and saying 'Only you can prevent forest fires'.
**smok·ing** /'sməʊkɪŋ/ *n* [U] the practice or habit of sucking
in tobacco smoke from cigarettes, a pipe etc: *The sign says
'no smoking'.* (=one is not allowed to smoke) | *There are a few
smoking compartments (=where one can smoke) on this train.*
➔ see also PASSIVE SMOKING; see SMOKE
**CULTURAL NOTE** In both the US and the UK, there are
more and more limits on where people can smoke in
public places, because smoking is considered to be bad
for your health. Some states in the US have laws that say
you cannot smoke in any public place, even bars. Most
office buildings in the US and the UK do not allow