white smoke
White-colored smoke serving as an announcement to the outside world that a conclave…White-colored smoke serving as an announcement to the outside world that a conclave has chosen a new Pope.
» A column of white smoke rose into the sky.
calypsow · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
4 senses(countable, uncountable)White-colored smoke serving as an announcement to the outside world that a conclave has chosen a new Pope.
weißer Rauch
бе́лый дымbélyj dym
(countable, figuratively, uncountable)An event of reaching an agreement.
Sit yourselves down together until the white smoke comes out.
weißer Rauch
(countable, uncountable)A shade of white.
(countable, slang, uncountable)The drug methamphetamine.
Examples
5 sentencesA column of white smoke rose into the sky.
White smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel.
deWeißer Rauch stieg von der Sixtinischen Kapelle auf. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
The doctor advised Mr. White not to smoke too much.
ruВрач посоветовал мистеру Уайту не курить слишком много. — Squaw
The doctor advised Mr. White not to smoke a lot.
White smoke indicates the conclave has finished their deliberation and chosen a new editor for Vogue magazine.
Translations
4 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From the ancient practice of announcing the result of a papal election. If the election waFrom the ancient practice of announcing the result of a papal election. If the election was successful, i.e. a candidate received two-thirds majority in the College of Cardinals, the inspected ballots were burned in the stove of the Sistine Chapel of Vatican, resulting in white smoke spewing out from the chimney. If the required majority was not reached, damp straw was added to the stove, resulting in black smoke. A similar effect is achieved in modern times with chemicals. Compare Italian fumata bianca (“white smoke”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: white smokes| Singular | white smoke |
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| Plural | white smokes |
regular
Antonyms
1 antonymsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.