- The definition of a smock is a loose dress or blouse that you wear over your clothing to protect the clothing.
A loose cotton shirt that you put on that covers the front and back of your clothes is an example of a smock.
- Smock is to decorate clothing or other items by gathering fabric to one-third of its width and then sewing over the gathers so that the fabric can stretch.
An example of smock is to gather pleats of fabric around the neck and sleeves of a garment in the Middle Ages.
smock
- a long, loose, shirtlike outer garment worn to protect the clothes
- Archaic a chemise, or sliplike undergarment
- a loose-fitting woman's or girl's dress or top having smocking at the bust
Origin of smock
Middle English smoc from Old English smoc or Old Norse smokkr from Indo-European an unverified form (s)meugh from base an unverified form meug-, slippery, to slip, slip on from source smuggle, meek, Classical Latin mucus- to dress in a smock
- to decorate with smocking
smock
noun
transitive verb
smocked, smock·ing, smocks- To clothe in a smock.
- To decorate (fabric) with smocking.
Origin of smock
Middle English woman's undergarment from Old English smocsmock
(plural smocks)
- A woman's undergarment; a shift; a chemise.
- A blouse; a smock frock.
- A loose garment worn as protection by a painter, etc.
(not comparable)
- Of or pertaining to a smock; resembling a smock
- Hence, of or pertaining to a woman.
(third-person singular simple present smocks, present participle smocking, simple past and past participle smocked)
- To provide with, or clothe in, a smock or a smock frock. Alfred Tennyson.
- To apply smocking.
From Old English smoc; akin to Old High German smocho, Icelandic smokkr, and from the root of Old English smgan (“to creep"), akin to German schmiegen (“to cling to, press close"). Middle High German smiegen, Icelandic smjga (“to creep through, to put on a garment which has a hole to put the head through"); compare with Lithuanian smukti (“to glide"). See also smug, smuggle.
