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to soot

to soot

1 6.7
To make something black with powder left by smoke
  • verb
  • /sʊt/
translation icon : tiznar
  • Grease on the walls, soot in the chimney...

Examples

  • Chicago's familiar pall of coal smoke stained the sky, just as Chicago soot stained skin and clothing.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • I ran my fingers along the wood next to me and looked at them, and the tips were black; the smoke had sooted up everything.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Sometimes he soots the area under his eyes.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • It just soots up so badly that I quit even trying.

    Blog text (2)
  • Soot him, you…

  • "Whatever is the matter with you, boy?" she demanded in exasperation when he tipped black rock short of the bin and sooted up the hearth.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • McLemore carried beams of steel around the warehouse, then wiped carbon soot off his hands onto his gray T-shirt and blue jeans, staining them black.

    Blog text (10)
  • And me, that too, standing politely outside the dime store on Fifty-third Street on an August day, that Chicago stockyards soot hanging in the wet air, me dressed in a tasteful skirt and blouse, staying calm, keeping my eyes carefully focused over the customers' shoulders while they read my sign, while they walk away or shake my hand or spit at my feet.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • The fireplace had been used frequently, so the soot from the wood smoke had sooted up the walls.

  • After cooking dinner, she noticed that the kitchen hood was sooted, requiring a thorough cleaning.

Synonyms

to stain
vsto soot
113 3.2

To put color on something to change how it looks

is limited to covering with a fine black residue rather than general coloring
to smuts
vsto soot
7.0

To make something dirty with black dust

is about covering or marking with a fine black residue
to hollin
vsto soot
  • Archaic
9.9

To make something black with soot from burning

is the everyday term for covering with a fine black residue
to smut
vsto soot
  • Archaic
7.9

To stain something with black dirt or soot

is more specific, meaning to coat with a fine black residue

Antonyms

1.0

To remove dirt and stains

Compounds

A very dark color like the black dust from a fire

soot devil
  • Literature
9.9

An imaginary creature that makes soot messes near fireplaces

Very black in color like dust left by a fire

How Dark

to carbonize
  • Specialized
1 7.2
to char
53 4.6
to blacken
19 3.4
to stain
113 3.2
to soot
1 6.7
to smear
63 3.7
to speckle
15 3.9

Surface Forms

soot infinitive
sooted past
sooted past participle
sooting present participle
soots third person singular

Etymology

The verb soot comes from the same old English root sōt, which meant 'black dust', so to soot something is to cover or stain it with that black deposit.