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Smash vs Slam - What's the difference?

smash | slam |

As nouns the difference between smash and slam

is that smash is the sound of a violent impact; a violent striking together while slam is a sudden impact or blow.

As verbs the difference between smash and slam

is that smash is to break (something brittle) violently while slam is to shut with sudden force so as to produce a shock and noise.

smash

English

Noun

(smashes)
  • The sound of a violent impact; a violent striking together.
  • I could hear the screech of the brakes, then the horrible smash of cars colliding.
  • (British, colloquial) A traffic accident.
  • The driver and two passengers were badly injured in the smash .
  • (colloquial, entertainment) Something very successful.
  • This new show of mine is sure to be a smash .
  • * 2012 , Tom Lamont, How Mumford & Sons became the biggest band in the world'' (in ''The Daily Telegraph , 15 November 2012)[http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/15/mumford-sons-biggest-band-world]
  • Soundcheck for the band, today, takes place at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. It is late afternoon and while the arena's 17,000 outdoor seats are still empty the four members of Mumford & Sons – prospering British folk band, in the middle of a long tour of Australia, the US and the UK, their newly released album Babel a smash on all fronts – wander to centre stage.
  • (tennis) A very hard overhead shot hit sharply downward.
  • A smash may not be as pretty as a good half volley, but it can still win points.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=July 3 , author=Piers Newbury , title=Wimbledon 2011: Novak Djokovic beats Rafael Nadal in final , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=A Nadal forehand into the net gave Djokovic the set and the Spaniard appeared rattled, firing a smash over the baseline in a rare moment of promise at 30-30 at the start of the third.}}
  • (colloquial, archaic) bankruptcy
  • Synonyms

    * (sound of a violent impact ): crash * (colloquial: traffic accident ): crash * (colloquial: something very successful ): smash hit

    Verb

    (es)
  • To break (something brittle) violently.
  • * 1895 , , (The Time Machine) , Chapter X
  • Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing. Yet oddly enough I found here a far more unlikely substance, and that was camphor. I found it in a sealed jar, that, by chance, I supposed had been really hermetically sealed. I fancied at first the stuff was paraffin wax, and smashed the jar accordingly. But the odor of camphor was unmistakable.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=28, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= High and wet , passage=Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale.
  • To hit extremely hard.
  • (figuratively) To ruin completely and suddenly.
  • (figuratively) To defeat overwhelmingly.
  • (US) To deform through continuous pressure.
  • To be destroyed by being smashed.
  • (transitive, slang, vulgar, of a man) To have sexual intercourse with.
  • Synonyms

    * (break violently ): dash, shatter * (hit extremely hard ): pound, thump, wallop * (ruin completely and suddenly ): dash * (defeat overwhelmingly ): slaughter, trounce * (be destroyed by being smashed ): shatter

    Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs ----

    slam

    English

    Etymology 1

    Apparently from a Scandinavian source; compare Norwegian slamre, Swedish slemma.

    Verb

    (slamm)
  • (ergative) To shut with sudden force so as to produce a shock and noise.
  • Don't slam the door!
  • (ergative) To put in or on a particular place with force and loud noise. (Often followed by a preposition such as down'', ''against'' or into.)
  • Don't slam that trunk down on the pavement!
  • To strike forcefully with some implement.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=January 18 , author= , title=Wolverhampton 5 - 0 Doncaster , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=But Wolves went in front when Steven Fletcher headed in Stephen Hunt's cross and it was 2-0 when Geoffrey Mujangi Bia slammed in his first for the club. }}
  • (colloquial) To speak badly of; to criticize forcefully.
  • Don't ever slam me in front of the boss like that again!
    Union leaders slammed the new proposals.
    Critics slammed the new film, calling it violent and meaningless.
  • (basketball) To dunk forcefully, to slam dunk.
  • (bridge) To make a slam bid.
  • (card games) To defeat (opponents at cards) by winning all the tricks of a deal or a hand.
  • (Hoyle)
  • to change providers (e.g. of domain registration or telephone carrier) for a customer without clear (if any) consent.
  • to drink off, to drink quickly
  • to compete in a poetry slam
  • Synonyms
    * (drink quickly) See also
    Derived terms
    * slam the door on * slam on the brakes

    Noun

  • (countable) A sudden impact or blow.
  • (countable) The shock and noise produced by violently closing a door or other object.
  • * (Charles Dickens)
  • The slam and the scowl were lost upon Sam.
  • (countable, basketball) A slam dunk.
  • (countable, colloquial, US) An insult.
  • *, chapter=5
  • , title= Mr. Pratt's Patients , passage=“Well,” I says, “I cal'late a body could get used to Tophet if he stayed there long enough.” ¶ She flared up; the least mite of a slam at Doctor Wool was enough to set her going.}}
  • (uncountable) The yellow iron silicate produced in alum works as a waste product.
  • A poetry slam.
  • (UK, dialect) The refuse of alum works.
  • Etymology 2

    Origin unknown.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A type of card game, also called ruff and honours.
  • (cards) Losing or winning all the tricks in a game.
  • (countable, bridge) A bid of six (small slam'') or seven (''grand slam ) in a suit or no trump.
  • Derived terms
    * grand slam

    Verb

    (slamm)
  • (card games) To defeat by winning all the tricks of a deal or a hand.
  • Anagrams

    * English ergative verbs ----