Now dial. Also 9 smeetch, smeechy. [f. prec.]
1. trans. To blacken or soil with smoke. ? Obs.
1611. Cotgr., Patrouiller, to smeech, begrime,… besmeere.
2. intr. To send off smoke, vapor, or the like; to smoke.
1837–. in south-western dialects.
3. trans. To perfume or scent.
1897. F. T. Jane, Lordship, xxvii. The hawthorn smeetched the air all round.
Hence Smeecher; Smeeching vbl. sb.
1611. Cotgr., Patrouilleur, a smeecher, begrimer, besmearer. Ibid., Patrouillement, a smeeching, begriming, besmearing.
1907. Sci. Amer., Suppl. 5 Oct., 210/2 (Cent. Dict. Suppl.). While the kiln is in operation, the escape of the arsenic fumes can be detected here and there in the form of little jets, which the workmen describe as ‘smeeching.’
