smart

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   capable of independent and apparently intelligent action

   smart weapons

2. 2
   adj

   quick and brisk

   I gave the committee a smart salute.

3. 3
   adj

   painfully severe

   The cruel owner gave the dog a smart blow.

4. 4
   verb

   To hurt or sting.

   After being hit with a pitch, the batter exclaimed "Ouch, my arm smarts!"

5. 5
   verb

   To cause a smart or sting in.

   A goad that […] smarts the flesh.

6. 6
   verb

   To feel a pungent pain of mind; to feel sharp pain or grief; to be punished severely; to feel the sting of evil.

   You think this cruel? take it for a rule, / No creature ſmarts ſo little as a Fool.

7. 7
   adj

   Exhibiting social ability or cleverness.

   I always preferred the church, and I still do. But that was not smart enough for my family. They recommended the army. That was a great deal too smart for me.

8. 8
   adj

   Equipped with intelligent behaviour (digital/computer technology).

   smart car

Etymology

From Middle English smert, smart, from Old English smeart (“smarting, smart, painful”), from Proto-West Germanic *smart, from Proto-Germanic *smartaz (“hurting, aching”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)merd- (“to bite, sting”). Cognate with Scots smert (“painful, smart”), Old Frisian smert (“sharp, painful”).