smooth
part of speech
adjective (smooth, smoother, smoothest); verb (smooth, smooths, smoothed, smoothing)
meaning for a pupil
1) Smooth means flat and even, with no rough parts, bumps or holes. tree →
2) Smooth means moving without sudden jolts, like a smooth ride. tree →
3) A smooth liquid or mixture has no lumps. tree →
4) To smooth something means to make it flat or even with your hand. tree →
sense in the lessons
In science, smooth surfaces like glass and ice have less friction than rough ones like sandpaper, so things slide further on them; materials can be sorted into rough and smooth. In everyday life, stones in a river become smooth because water wears them down; in cooking, «stir until smooth» means no lumps. In art, «smooth» lines and blending. In safety, smooth wet floors are slippery. In stories, a «smooth» talker can be charming but tricky.
examples
- The glass felt cold and smooth. tree →
- Stones in the river are smooth and round. tree →
- Stir the batter until it's smooth. tree →
- The toy car went furthest on the smooth floor. tree →
- It was a smooth flight with no bumps. tree →
- She smoothed the creases out of her dress. tree →
- Smooth surfaces have less friction than rough ones. tree →
- The sea was as smooth as glass. tree →
note
The «th» is like in «this»: «smoothe» is not a correct spelling for the adjective (the verb is usually also «smooth»). Opposite «rough» or «bumpy». A smoothie is a thick blended fruit drink. In science experiments, «smooth» means less friction.
In the corpora
- Photos online are often smoothed with filters; real skin has lines and spots, and nobody looks like a filter.
- Smooth cartilage and a slippery fluid let the ends of bones glide in a joint.
- Hard deer hooves grip soil and snow but slip on smooth ice, so real deer avoid frozen ponds where they can.
- And ice cream feels smooth because it is stirred while freezing, keeping its ice crystals tiny.
- Socks on smooth wooden stairs can slip; shoes or bare feet grip better.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «smooth» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.