smash

Etymology

From a blend of smack + mash. Compare Swedish smask (“a light explosion, crack, report”), dialectal Swedish smaska (“to smack, kiss”), Danish smaske (“to smack with the lips”), Low German smaksen (“to smack with the lips, kiss”).

noun

1. The sound of a violent impact; a violent striking together.
   I could hear the screech of the brakes, then the horrible smash of cars colliding.
2. (Britain, colloquial) A traffic collision.
   The driver and two passengers were badly injured in the smash.
3. (colloquial) Something very successful or popular (as music, food, fashion, etc).
   This new show is sure to be a smash.
   The dress is a smash. 2007-06-26, Jackie Collins, Drop Dead Beautiful, St. Martin's Publishing Group, 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. 2012-11-15, Tom Lamont, “How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world”, in The Daily Telegraph
   All together, this look is a smash in our books. May 1, 2019, Ginaluca Russo, “Taylor Swift Stuns In a Periwinkle Ruffle Mini Dress on the Billboard Music Awards Red Carpet”, in Teen Vogue
4. (tennis) 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. July 3, 2011, Piers Newbury, “Wimbledon 2011: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal in final”, in BBC Sport
5. (colloquial, archaic) 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
6. (colloquial, archaic) A disaster; a bad situation.
7. A mashed foodstuff.
   […] the saltbush dukkah, avocado and feta smash. 2017, Charles Rawlings-Way, Brett Atkinson, Lonely Planet Discover Australia
8. A kind of julep cocktail containing chunks of fresh fruit that can be eaten after finishing the drink.
9. (aviation, informal) Airspeed; dynamic pressure.
   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

verb

1. (transitive) To break (something brittle) violently.
   The demolition team smashed the buildings to rubble.
   The flying rock smashed the window to pieces.
   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. 2013-06-29, “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. December 29 2021, Dominique Louis, “Causal analysis: crashworthiness at Sandilands”, in RAIL, number 947, page 33
2. (intransitive) To be destroyed by being smashed.
   The crockery smashed as it hit the floor.
3. (transitive) To hit extremely hard.
   He smashed his head against the table.
   Bonds smashed the ball 467 feet, the second longest home run in the history of the park.
4. (transitive, figurative) To ruin completely and suddenly.
   The news smashed any hopes of a reunion.
5. (transitive, figurative) To defeat overwhelmingly; to gain a comprehensive success over.
   The Indians smashed the Yankees 22-0.
   I really smashed that English exam.
6. (transitive, US) To deform through continuous pressure.
   I slowly smashed the modeling clay flat with the palm of my hand.
   Using a fork, smash the avocado with all the remaining ingredients. 2016, Doreen Virtue, Jenny Ross, Veggie Mama, page 154
7. (transitive, slang, vulgar) To have sexual intercourse 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?” 29 June 2023, Metro, London, page 3, column 4
8. (intransitive, slang, archaic) 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