smooth

smooth1 [ smuð ] adjective **

▸ 1 even

▸ 2 well controlled

▸ 3 drink: not bitter

▸ 4 without problems

▸ 5 relaxed/confident

1. ) completely even with no rough areas or lumps:

A baby's skin is as smooth as silk.

─ opposite ROUGH

2. ) a smooth ride in a vehicle does not shake or frighten you:

a smooth flight/voyage/ride

a ) a smooth movement is easy and well controlled:

With a smooth swing, he hit the ball.

3. ) a smooth drink or flavor is not too strong or bitter, and tastes good:

a smooth whiskey

4. ) causing no difficulty, problems, or delays:

a smooth process/business

We are changing systems, but we expect a smooth transition.

a ) smooth sailing AMERICAN progress of a plan without difficulty or problems

5. ) relaxed and confident in a way that usually persuades people to do things. This word shows that you do not trust people like this:

Steven's a little too smooth if you ask me.

a smooth operator (=someone you cannot trust)

smooth

smooth 2 [ smuð ] verb transitive *

1. ) to move your hand across the surface of something until it is flat and even:

smooth down/out: Frances sat smoothing her skirt down over her knees.

smooth back: Seeing her, he quickly smoothed back his hair.

a ) to SAND the surface of something to make it flat and even

2. ) to carefully spread a substance over a surface:

Anne bathed the baby and gently smoothed cream into his skin.

smooth someone's ruffled feathers

to try to make someone who feels offended less angry

smooth the path/way (for)

to remove problems so that something can be achieved easily:

The talks are intended to smooth the way for a settlement.

,smooth `over phrasal verb transitive

to make a problem seem less serious:

He's trying to smooth over differences between the two leaders.