Uncertain, probably of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Swedish smask (“to smack with the lips”), dialectal Swedish smaska (“to smack, kiss”), Danish smaske (“to smack with the lips”), Low German smaksen (“to smack with the lips, kiss”).
Meanings
(countable, uncountable) The sound of a violent impact; a violent striking together.
The display cabinet hit the floor with a smash.
I could hear the screech of the brakes, then the horrible smash of cars colliding.
(Ireland, UK, colloquial, countable, uncountable) A traffic collision.
The driver and two passengers were badly injured in the smash.
The footage of this scene has been re-used in several later films where a good, convincing train smash was required, notably in "Seven Sinners" (1937). 1958 February 14, David Gunston, “Railways on the Screen”, in Railway Magazine, page 90:
(colloquial, countable, uncountable) Something very successful or popular (as music, food, fashion, etc).
All together, this look is a smash in our books. 2019 May 1, Ginaluca Russo, “Taylor Swift Stuns In a Periwinkle Ruffle Mini Dress on the Billboard Music Awards Red Carpet”, in Teen Vogue:
The dress is a smash. 2007 June 26, Jackie Collins, Drop Dead Beautiful, St. Martin's Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 440:
[…]Mumford & Sons – prospering British folk band, in the middle of a long tour of Australia, the US and the UK, their newly released album Babel a smash on all fronts – wander to centre stage. 2012 November 15, Tom Lamont, “How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world”, in The Daily Telegraph:
This new show is sure to be a smash.
(countable, uncountable) A very hard overhead shot hit sharply downward.
A smash may not be as pretty as a good half volley, but it can still win points.
A Nadal forehand into the net gave Djokovic the set and the Spaniard appeared rattled, firing a smash over the baseline in a rare moment of promise at 30-30 at the start of the third. 2011 July 3, Piers Newbury, “Wimbledon 2011: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal in final”, in BBC Sport:
(archaic, colloquial, countable, uncountable) A bankruptcy.
Supposing a man has for the space of a month carried on trade in a showy shop in Cheapside, and then comes a smash, — is he not to be held a trader within the bankrupt law, because no one can swear that he has traded for four months? 1845, Basil Montagu, Edward Erastus Deacon, John Peter De Gex, Reports of Cases in Bankruptcy:
(archaic, colloquial, countable, uncountable) A disaster; a bad situation.
“There’s nowhere else to go to now, for the people at the Cripples are all in custody, and the bar of the ken—I went up there and see it with my own eyes—is filled with traps.”
“This is a smash,” observed Toby, biting his lips. “There’s more than one will go with this.” 1838, Boz [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Oliver Twist; […], volume (please specify |volume=I, II, or III), London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC:
(countable, uncountable) A mashed foodstuff.
[…] the saltbush dukkah, avocado and feta smash. 2017, Charles Rawlings-Way, Brett Atkinson, Lonely Planet Discover Australia:
(countable, uncountable) A kind of julep cocktail containing chunks of fresh fruit that can be eaten after finishing the drink.
Then, for Horner's red team, it became just a matter of gaining sufficient smash (airspeed) to convert on them and film them with gun cameras. 2008, Tom Clancy, Chuck Horner, Every Man A Tiger:
(archaic, uncountable) Destruction.
I went back with him to the Admiral Benbow, and you cannot imagine a house in such a state of smash; the very clock had been thrown down by these fellows in their furious hunt after my mother and myself; […] 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
The door panels were in a normal state of smash, but the frame of the door resisted all besiegers, and behind it the owner carried on his varied pursuits […] 1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days:
fi rysäys (sound of a violent impact) · ru смэш (in tennis) · bg катастрофа (colloquial: traffic accident) · ca retrò (sound of a violent impact) · ru успе́х (colloquial: something very successful) · fi iskulyönti (in tennis) · fi mälli (colloquial: traffic accident) · ga tuairt (sound of a violent impact) · fi kolari (colloquial: traffic accident) · cs smeč (in tennis) · sv krock (colloquial: traffic accident) · bg смаш (in tennis) · ga pléasc (sound of a violent impact) · es smash (in tennis) · tr kaza (colloquial: traffic accident) · ga smíste (sound of a violent impact) · pt smash (in tennis) · fr smash (in tennis) · de Krachen (sound of a violent impact) · sh смеч (in tennis) · tr trafik kazası (colloquial: traffic accident) · ru круше́ние (colloquial: traffic accident) · fi menestys (colloquial: something very successful) · ca esmaixada (in tennis) · fi paukaus (sound of a violent impact) · nl dreun (sound of a violent impact) · bg трясък (sound of a violent impact) · nl voltreffer (colloquial: something very successful) · fi rämähdys (sound of a violent impact) · pt batida (colloquial: traffic accident) · ru гро́хот (sound of a violent impact) · pt estrondo (sound of a violent impact) · ca baluern (sound of a violent impact) · fi hitti (colloquial: something very successful) · de Wucht (colloquial: something very successful) · tr çivi (in tennis) · nl klap (sound of a violent impact) · nl smash (in tennis) · id smes (in tennis) · sv smash (in tennis) · ca retruny (sound of a violent impact) · it smash (in tennis) · ga pleist (sound of a violent impact) · sh smeč (in tennis)
Uncertain, probably of onomatopoeic origin. Compare Swedish smask (“to smack with the lips”), dialectal Swedish smaska (“to smack, kiss”), Danish smaske (“to smack with the lips”), Low German smaksen (“to smack with the lips, kiss”).
Meanings
(transitive) To break (something brittle) violently.
Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale.[…]Rock-filled torrents smashed vehicles and homes, burying victims under rubble and sludge. 2013 June 29, “High and wet”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 28:
We also found that the only emergency egress from the tram was by smashing the front or rear windscreens, and that emergency lighting had failed when the tram overturned. 2021 December 29, Dominique Louis, “Causal analysis: crashworthiness at Sandilands”, in RAIL, number 947, page 33:
Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing. Yet oddly enough I found here a far more unlikely substance, and that was camphor. I found it in a sealed jar, that, by chance, I supposed had been really hermetically sealed. I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable. 1895 May 29, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter X, in The Time Machine: An Invention, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC:
The flying rock smashed the window to pieces.
The demolition team smashed the buildings to rubble.
(intransitive) To be destroyed by being smashed.
The crockery smashed as it hit the floor.
(transitive) To hit extremely hard.
Bonds smashed the ball 467 feet, the second longest home run in the history of the park.
He smashed his head against the table.
(figuratively, transitive) To ruin completely and suddenly.
The news smashed any hopes of a reunion.
(figuratively, transitive) To defeat overwhelmingly; to gain a comprehensive success over.
I really smashed that English exam.
The Indians smashed the Yankees 22-0.
(US, transitive) To deform through continuous pressure.
Using a fork, smash the avocado with all the remaining ingredients. 2016, Doreen Virtue, Jenny Ross, Veggie Mama, page 154:
I slowly smashed the modeling clay flat with the palm of my hand.
(slang, transitive, vulgar) To have sex with.
Would you smash her?
Farmersonly.com. A website that begs the question, what kind of bitch only smashes with farmers? 2020 November 7, Dave Chappelle on Saturday Night Live
In a leaked video, Keys also asked pundit Jamie Redknapp of an ex girlfriend: “Did you smash it?” 2023 June 29, Metro, London, page 3, column 4:
(archaic, intransitive, slang) Synonym of go to smash (“to go to ruin; to fail disastrously”).
"What would have become of the gems had the bank smashed?" asked Marie in a timid and rather tearful voice, for it was a terrible thought to think that her dreams might dissolve into thin air. 1910, Fergus Hume, The Peacock of Jewels:
(Ireland, UK, obsolete, slang) To pass counterfeit money.
fi särkyä (to be destroyed by being smashed) · fi iskeä (to hit extremely hard) · fi lyödä (to hit extremely hard) · it frantumarsi (to be destroyed by being smashed) · fi mäiskäistä (to hit extremely hard) · ca rebentar ((transitive) to break violently) · ru вма́зать (to hit extremely hard) · te నాశనం చేయు ((transitive) to break violently) · es machucar ((transitive) to break violently) · cmn 粉碎 ((transitive) to break violently) · lt sudaužyti ((transitive) to break violently) · cs drtit (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · ru разгроми́ть (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · de zertrümmern ((transitive) to break violently) · fi loistaa (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · de zerschellen ((transitive) to break violently) · ro buli (slang: to have sex) · mi haukuru ((transitive) to break violently) · bg счупвам се (to be destroyed by being smashed) · fi särkeä ((transitive) to break violently) · it sfracellare ((transitive) to break violently) · cs roztříštit se (to be destroyed by being smashed) · cs tříštit se (to be destroyed by being smashed) · fi täräyttää (to hit extremely hard) · is mölva ((transitive) to break violently) · cs zdrtit (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · mww tsoo (to be destroyed by being smashed) · it frantumare ((transitive) to break violently) · pl miażdżyć (to be destroyed by being smashed) · it polverizzare (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · de zerschmettern ((transitive) to break violently) · gl esmagar (to be destroyed by being smashed) · mi pakore ((transitive) to break violently) · mww tsoo ((transitive) to break violently) · hu betör ((transitive) to break violently) · pt destroçar ((transitive) to break violently) · mww tsoo (to hit extremely hard) · ca esbardellar ((transitive) to break violently) · fr percuter (to hit extremely hard) · pl zaorać (slang: to have sex) · uk розби́тися (to be destroyed by being smashed) · fi rikkoa ((transitive) to break violently) · ca esclafar (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · te బాదు (to hit extremely hard) · ru уда́рить (to hit extremely hard) · ru рубану́ть (to hit extremely hard) · bg удрям силно (to hit extremely hard) · ca percudir (to hit extremely hard) · fi murskata ((transitive) to break violently) · eo fiki (slang: to have sex) · es estrellar ((transitive) to break violently) · lt dužti (to be destroyed by being smashed) · it sfracellarsi (to be destroyed by being smashed) · fi murskautua (to be destroyed by being smashed) · de zerbrechen ((transitive) to break violently) · fi nussia (slang: to have sex) · hu összezúz ((transitive) to break violently) · grc θρυλίσσω ((transitive) to break violently) · ga gread (to hit extremely hard) · bg счупвам ((transitive) to break violently) · es golpear (to hit extremely hard) · es esclafar ((transitive) to break violently) · nl verpletteren ((transitive) to break violently) · gl machucar (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · la occillō ((transitive) to break violently) · ru разгроми́ть ((transitive) to break violently) · bg разбивам се (to be destroyed by being smashed) · bg разбивам ((transitive) to break violently) · egy gm-m-gm-m-Z9 ((transitive) to break violently) · an estrelar (to hit extremely hard) · ja 打ち砕く ((transitive) to break violently) · ca colpejar (to hit extremely hard) · eo frakasi ((transitive) to break violently) · de zusammenschlagen (to hit extremely hard) · pt esmagar ((transitive) to break violently) · de bumsen (slang: to have sex) · ar كَسَّرَ ((transitive) to break violently) · es destrozar ((transitive) to break violently) · da smadre ((transitive) to break violently) · nl kapotslaan ((transitive) to break violently) · fi luhistaa (figuratively: to ruin completely and suddenly) · gl machacar (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · gd bris ((transitive) to break violently) · fi murskata (figuratively: to ruin completely and suddenly) · fi menestyä (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · de schmettern (to hit extremely hard) · cs roztříštit ((transitive) to break violently) · fi läimäyttää (to hit extremely hard) · pl orać (slang: to have sex) · lt daužti (to hit extremely hard) · cs rozdrtit (figuratively: to ruin completely and suddenly) · pl zmiażdżyć (to be destroyed by being smashed) · fi murskata (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · de knallen (slang: to have sex) · cs rozdrtit (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · uk розбива́тися (to be destroyed by being smashed) · cs zasmečovat (in tennis) · fi pirstoa ((transitive) to break violently) · gd bris (figuratively: to ruin completely and suddenly) · gd bris (to be destroyed by being smashed) · hu szétzúz (figuratively: to ruin completely and suddenly) · ca esbotzar ((transitive) to break violently) · fi jysäyttää (to hit extremely hard) · an estrelar ((transitive) to break violently) · lt daužyti ((transitive) to break violently) · ru долбану́ть (to hit extremely hard) · ru разгроми́ть (figuratively: to ruin completely and suddenly) · de vögeln (slang: to have sex) · bg разгромявам (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · ru сокруши́ть (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · es aplastar ((transitive) to break violently) · ru разби́ть (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly) · pt golpear (to hit extremely hard) · fr fracasser ((transitive) to break violently) · fi panna (slang: to have sex) · es chancar ((transitive) to break violently) · es majar ((transitive) to break violently) · es machacar ((transitive) to break violently) · egy gm-m-gm-m-Z9 (to be destroyed by being smashed) · gl esfachar ((transitive) to break violently) · ru разби́ться (to be destroyed by being smashed) · ar تَكَسَّرَ (to be destroyed by being smashed) · kix thā (to be destroyed by being smashed) · cs smečovat (in tennis) · es machucar (to hit extremely hard) · ru громи́ть ((transitive) to break violently) · ru гро́хнуть (to hit extremely hard) · ast frayar ((transitive) to break violently) · an estrelar-se (to be destroyed by being smashed) · la percīdō ((transitive) to break violently) · mi haukere (to hit extremely hard) · ko 부수다 ((transitive) to break violently) · lt sudužti (to be destroyed by being smashed) · fr écraser (figuratively: to defeat overwhelmingly)