smashing

[smash-ing] /ˈsmæʃ ɪŋ/
adjective
1.
impressive or wonderful:
a smashing display.
2.
crushing or devastating:
a smashing defeat.
Origin
1825-35; smash + -ing2
Related forms
smashingly, adverb

smash

[smash] /smæʃ/
verb (used with object)
1.
to break to pieces with violence and often with a crashing sound, as by striking, letting fall, or dashing against something; shatter:
He smashed the vase against the wall.
2.
to defeat, disappoint, or disillusion utterly.
3.
to hit or strike (someone or something) with force.
4.
to overthrow or destroy something considered as harmful:
They smashed the drug racket.
5.
to ruin financially:
The depression smashed him.
6.
Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis. to hit (a ball or shuttlecock) overhead or overhand with a hard downward motion, causing the shot to move very swiftly and to strike the ground or table usually at a sharp angle.
verb (used without object)
7.
to break to pieces from a violent blow or collision.
8.
to dash with a shattering or crushing force or with great violence; crash (usually followed by against, into, through, etc.).
9.
to become financially ruined or bankrupt (often followed by up).
10.
to flatten and compress the signatures of a book in a press before binding.
noun
11.
the act or an instance of smashing or shattering.
12.
the sound of such a smash.
13.
a blow, hit, or slap.
14.
a destructive collision, as between automobiles.
15.
a smashed or shattered condition.
16.
a process or state of collapse, ruin, or destruction:
the total smash that another war would surely bring.
17.
financial failure or ruin.
18.
Informal. smash hit.
19.
a drink made of brandy, or other liquor, with sugar, water, mint, and ice.
20.
Tennis, Badminton, Table Tennis.
  1. an overhead or overhand stroke in which the ball or shuttlecock is hit with a hard, downward motion causing it to move very swiftly and to strike the ground or table usually at a sharp angle.
  2. a ball hit with such a stroke.
adjective
21.
of, relating to, or constituting a great success:
That composer has written many smash tunes.
Origin
1690-1700; perhaps blend of smack2 and mash
Related forms
smashable, adjective
Synonyms
1. See break. 5. bankrupt. 11. crash.
Examples from the web for smashing
  • Imagine smashing fresh berries into pure, sweet honey.
  • When you talk about my career, when they show a highlight reel, they're never going to show it without me smashing that guitar.
  • Moreover, the idea of smashing machines as a form of industrial protest did not begin or end with them.
  • We are said to be living in an icon-smashing age, but the odd thing is how few shards can be found on the floor.
  • It holds up the center of the pizza box to avoid cardboard smashing down on the cheese on the top of the pizza.
  • Police make a baton charge at noon, smashing their heavy truncheons into civil rights marchers' faces.
  • That's a long time to be smashing around on the water.
  • Cracked and empty shells lie in heaps on the seafloor at the site of the smashing incident.
  • At that age, you don't know what the barriers are and you keep smashing up against them.
  • Boys will soon be smashing them up in a scrap market.
British Dictionary definitions for smashing

smashing

/ˈsmæʃɪŋ/
adjective
1.
(informal, mainly Brit) excellent or first-rate; wonderful: we had a smashing time

smash

/smæʃ/
verb
1.
to break into pieces violently and usually noisily
2.
when intr, foll by against, through, into, etc. to throw or crash (against) vigorously, causing shattering: he smashed the equipment, it smashed against the wall
3.
(transitive) to hit forcefully and suddenly
4.
(transitive) (tennis, squash, badminton) to hit (the ball) fast and powerfully, esp with an overhead stroke
5.
(transitive) to defeat or wreck (persons, theories, etc)
6.
(transitive) to make bankrupt
7.
(intransitive) to collide violently; crash
8.
(intransitive) often foll by up. to go bankrupt
9.
(informal) smash someone's face in, to beat someone severely
noun
10.
an act, instance, or sound of smashing or the state of being smashed
11.
a violent collision, esp of vehicles
12.
a total failure or collapse, as of a business
13.
(tennis, squash, badminton) a fast and powerful overhead stroke
14.
(informal)
  1. something having popular success
  2. (in combination): smash-hit
15.
(slang) loose change; coins
adverb
16.
with a smash
See also smash-up
Derived Forms
smashable, adjective
Word Origin
C18: probably from sm(ack² + m)ash
Word Origin and History for smashing
adj.

1833, "violently crushing to pieces," present participle adjective from smash (v.). Meaning "pleasing, sensational" is from 1911. Related: Smashingly.

smash

v.

1759, "break to pieces," earlier "kick downstairs" (c.1700), probably of imitative origin (cf. smack (v.), mash (v.), crush (v.)). Meaning "act with crushing force" is from 1813; that of "strike violently" is from 1835. Tennis sense is from 1882. Smash-and-grab (adj.) is first attested 1927.

n.

1725, "hard blow," from smash (v.). Meaning "broken-up condition" is from 1798; that of "failure, financial collapse" is from 1839. Tennis sense is from 1882. Meaning "great success" is from 1923 ("Variety" headline, Oct. 16, in reference to Broadway productions of "The Fool" and "The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly").

Slang definitions & phrases for smashing

smashing

adjective

Excellent; wonderful • Still chiefly British: I told her she had a smashing figure (1911+)


smash

noun
  1. A total failure; a disaster, esp a financial collapse (1839+)
  2. (also smash hit) A great success; hit: Key Largo is an unqualified smash (1923+ Show business)
  3. Wine (1959+ Black)