smock

[ smok ]

noun

1. a loose, lightweight overgarment worn to protect the clothing while working.

verb (used with object)

1. to clothe in a smock.
2. to draw (a fabric) by needlework into a honeycomb pattern with diamond-shaped recesses.

smock

/ smɒk /

noun

1. any loose protective garment, worn by artists, laboratory technicians, etc
2. a woman's loose blouse-like garment, reaching to below the waist, worn over slacks, etc
3. Also calledsmock frock a loose protective overgarment decorated with smocking, worn formerly esp by farm workers
4. archaic.
   a woman's loose undergarment, worn from the 16th to the 18th centuries

verb

1. to ornament (a garment) with smocking

Derived Forms

• ˈsmockˌlike, adjective

Other Words From

• smocklike adjective
• un·smocked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of smock¹

before 1000; Middle English (noun), Old English smocc; originally name for a garment with a hole for the head; compare Old Norse smjūga to put on (a garment) over the head

Word History and Origins

Origin of smock¹

Old English smocc; related to Old High German smocco, Old Norse smokkr blouse, Middle High German gesmuc decoration

Example Sentences

He said: "When you've been sitting there since the crack of dawn in a smock waiting to have open heart surgery, however calm I tried to feel, you still get a bit nervous."

From BBC

Spotted while dancing by Robert I of Normandy, and summoned to his bed, Arlete refused to let him lift up her smock and instead tore it herself from top to bottom, explaining that it would be immodest for her 'dependant' garments to be 'mountant' to her sovereign's mouth.

From Science Daily

Or the thrill of seeing our normally staid hills streaked with bright color, as jumbled and vivid as a toddler’s smock after an afternoon of fingerpainting?

From Los Angeles Times

“C’mon now, Carmen had to get to her 90s before people cared,” she says, standing in her roughly 5,000-square-foot Kingston studio, about two hours north of New York City, on a rainy late spring morning, attired in her usual work garb of a knitted cap and an indigo Japanese frock coat now used as a smock, flecked with clay dust and wood chips.

From New York Times

He donned a chef’s smock this week to show a couple of them off, including a green salad with apple, almonds, blueberry vinaigrette — and roasted cicadas.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• apparel
• attire
• costume
• ensemble
• frock
• garb
• gown
• robe
• skirt
• suit
• uniform
• wardrobe