smart

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Smarted; p. pr. & vb. n. Smarting. ] [ OE. smarten, AS. smeortan; akin to D. smarten, smerten, G. schmerzen, OHG. smerzan, Dan. smerte, Sw. smärta, D. smart, smert, a pain, G. schmerz, OHG. smerzo, and probably to L. mordere to bite; cf. Gr. smerdno`s, smerdale`os, terrible, fearful, Skr. m&rsdot_;d to rub, crush. Cf. Morsel. ] 1. To feel a lively, pungent local pain; -- said of some part of the body as the seat of irritation; as, my finger smarts; these wounds smart. Chaucer. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To feel a pungent pain of mind; to feel sharp pain or grief; to suffer; to feel the sting of evil; as, the team is still smarting from its loss of the championship. [ 1913 Webster ]

No creature smarts so little as a fool. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it. Prov. xi. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause a smart in. “A goad that . . . smarts the flesh.” T. Adams. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. smerte. See Smart, v. i. ] 1. Quick, pungent, lively pain; a pricking local pain, as the pain from puncture by nettles. “In pain's smart.” Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Severe, pungent pain of mind; pungent grief; as, the smart of affliction. [ 1913 Webster ]

To stand 'twixt us and our deserved smart. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

Counsel mitigates the greatest smart. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A fellow who affects smartness, briskness, and vivacity; a dandy. [ Slang ] Fielding. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Smart money (see below). [ Canf ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Compar. Smarter superl. Smartest. ] [ OE. smerte. See Smart, v. i. ] 1. Causing a smart; pungent; pricking; as, a smart stroke or taste. [ 1913 Webster ]

How smart lash that speech doth give my conscience. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Keen; severe; poignant; as, smart pain. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Vigorous; sharp; severe. “Smart skirmishes, in which many fell.” Clarendon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Accomplishing, or able to accomplish, results quickly; active; sharp; clever. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Efficient; vigorous; brilliant. “The stars shine smarter.” Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. Marked by acuteness or shrewdness; quick in suggestion or reply; vivacious; witty; as, a smart reply; a smart saying. [ 1913 Webster ]

Who, for the poor renown of being smart
Would leave a sting within a brother's heart? Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

A sentence or two, . . . which I thought very smart. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. Pretentious; showy; spruce; as, a smart gown. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Brisk; fresh; as, a smart breeze. [ 1913 Webster ]

Smart money. (a) Money paid by a person to buy himself off from some unpleasant engagement or some painful situation. (b) (Mil.) Money allowed to soldiers or sailors, in the English service, for wounds and injures received; also, a sum paid by a recruit, previous to being sworn in, to procure his release from service. (c) (Law) Vindictive or exemplary damages; damages beyond a full compensation for the actual injury done. Burrill. Greenleaf. --
Smart ticket, a certificate given to wounded seamen, entitling them to smart money. [ Eng. ] Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Pungent; poignant; sharp; tart; acute; quick; lively; brisk; witty; clever; keen; dashy; showy. -- Smart, Clever. Smart has been much used in New England to describe a person who is intelligent, vigorous, and active; as, a smart young fellow; a smart workman, etc., conciding very nearly with the English sense of clever. The nearest approach to this in England is in such expressions as, he was smart (pungent or witty) in his reply, etc.; but smart and smartness, when applied to persons, more commonly refer to dress; as, a smart appearance; a smart gown, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To make smart or spruce; -- usually with up. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

She had to go and smarten herself up somewhat. W. Black. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To waste away. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a smart manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being smart. [ 1913 Webster ]