hitting something or someone with a sharp, loud blow, or the sound that results from such a hit.
From Old English 'smæc,' related to Middle Dutch 'smacken.' The word originally imitated the sound of a sharp blow, making it onomatopoetic in nature. The -ing form marks the present participle or gerund.
The word 'smack' is wonderfully onomatopoetic—it literally sounds like what it means! This is why so many languages have similar-sounding words for hitting: English 'smack,' Dutch 'smak,' German 'Schmackhaft'—our mouths naturally make that sharp sound when we say it.
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