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Glite Dictionary
to smoke like a chimney

to smoke like a chimney

3 6.8
To light and use many cigarettes every day
  • idiom
  • /smoʊk laɪk ə ˈtʃɪmni/
  • Informal
translation icon : fumar como un carretero
  • She's already got diabetes, smokes like a chimney.

Examples

  • He had no interests, no hobbies; he sat in his chair, smoking like a chimney, just waiting for trouble to start.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • She had smoked like a chimney, but hadn't been that old—fifty-eight.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Try smoking like a chimney.

    Brick (2006)

  • Did she smoke like a chimney and complain about everything?

    Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011)

  • My mom smoked like a chimney.

    Dumb and Dumber To (2014)

  • My daughter smokes like a chimney.

    Secrets & Lies (1996)

  • He smokes like a chimney.

    The Night of the Generals (1967)

  • He still drinks a lot and smokes like a chimney.

    Blog text (24)

  • He was overweight, drank a ton, and he smoked like a chimney.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • When he was younger, he used to smoke like a chimney, but now he has quit.

Synonyms

to chain-smoke
vsto smoke like a chimney
8 5.6

To smoke cigarettes one after another without stopping

is heavy and frequent tobacco use but not always continuous

Antonyms

to quit
668 1.0

To stop doing a habit or activity like smoking

How Often

to smoke like a chimney
  • Informal
3 6.8
to smoke
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

smoke like a chimney infinitive
smoked like a chimney past
smoked like a chimney past participle
smoking like a chimney present participle
smokes like a chimney third person singular

Morphology

smoke + like + a + chimney

The expression is a straightforward simile: chimneys literally emit large amounts of smoke and 'like' signals comparison, so the meaning 'to smoke heavily' can be directly inferred from the constituent words. This is a common, predictable figurative pattern cross-linguistically and would be accessible to a B1 learner who knows the parts.

Etymology

The idiom smoke like a chimney shows a clear picture: a chimney constantly sending out thick smoke. That's why it means 'to smoke a lot' or 'to smoke heavily'.