smarting


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smart

 (smärt)
adj. smart·er, smart·est
1.
a. Having or showing intelligence; bright. See Synonyms at intelligent.
b. Canny and shrewd in dealings with others: a smart negotiator.
2.
a. Amusingly clever; witty: a smart quip; a lively, smart conversation.
b. Impertinent; insolent: That's enough of your smart talk.
3. Energetic or quick in movement: a smart pace.
4. Fashionable; elegant: a smart suit; a smart restaurant; the smart set. See Synonyms at fashionable.
5. Capable of making adjustments that resemble those resulting from human decisions, chiefly by means of electronic sensors and computer technology: smart missiles; smart machines.
intr.v. smart·ed, smart·ing, smarts
1.
a. To cause a sharp, usually superficial, stinging pain: The slap delivered to my face smarted.
b. To be the location of such a pain: The incision on my leg smarts.
c. To feel such a pain.
2. To suffer acutely, as from mental distress, wounded feelings, or remorse: "No creature smarts so little as a fool" (Alexander Pope).
n.
1. Sharp pain or anguish: the smart of the wound.
2. smarts Slang Intelligence; expertise: a reporter with a lot of smarts.
Phrasal Verb:
smart off Informal
To speak or act impertinently.
Idiom:
right smart New England & Southern US
A lot; a considerable amount: "We have read right smart of that book" (Catherine C. Hopley).

[Middle English, stinging, keen, alert, from Old English smeart, causing pain.]

smart′ly adv.
smart′ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.smarting - a kind of pain such as that caused by a wound or a burn or a sore
hurting, pain - a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder; "the patient developed severe pain and distension"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

smarting

adjective
Marked by, causing, or experiencing physical pain:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

smarting

n dolor m, ardor m, quemazón f, escozor m
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
By these and the like declarations, he extorted some compunction from Tom, in which that youth was not over-sincere; for he really meditated some return for all the smarting favours he had received at the hands of the pedagogue.
And so fell George's last hope;--nothing before him but a life of toil and drudgery, rendered more bitter by every little smarting vexation and indignity which tyrannical ingenuity could devise.