See Also: smart(2)(dictionary)
smart(1)(dictionary)
smart(dictionary)
smart(medicine)
NEW SMART(finance)
Smart Wings(tourism)
smart bomb(encyclopedia)
smart 1, adjective(dictionary)
smart 2, verb(dictionary)
smart alec(dictionary)

smart(2) (iou)



smart noun. [sm¨»:t] ME.
[In branch I app. from base of SMART adjective, rel. to Middle Low German, Middle Dutch smerte, smarte, Old High German smerza, smerzo (German Schmerz); in branch II directly from SMART adjective.]
I.
(An instance of) sharp physical pain, esp. caused by a blow, sting, or wound. ME.
W. C. Bryant Patroclus..applied a root..to assuage the smart.
Sharp mental pain or suffering; an instance of this, a pang. ME.
ellipt. = smart-money below. E19.
II.
A person who affects smartness in dress, manners, or talk. Now Hist. E18.
The quality of smartness in talk or writing. M19.
Chiefly right smart. A fair quantity, a reasonable number. US colloq. M19.
W. Faulkner There is a right smart of folks in Jefferson I don't know.
sing. & (usu.) in pl. Intelligence, acumen, nous. N. Amer. slang. L20.
street smarts: see STREET noun.
New Yorker Beep Jennings..lacked the smarts to close a loan properly.
Comb.: smart-money (a) money paid to sailors, soldiers, workmen, etc., as compensation for injuries received while on duty or at work; (b) money paid to obtain the discharge of a recruit who has enlisted in the army; smartweed (chiefly dial. & US) any of various kinds of persicaria; esp. water-pepper, Persicaria hydropiper, with peppery-tasting leaves.