smouch, verb intransitive

Origin:
From smouch noun.
obs. except in historical contexts
smous verb sense 1.
Derivatives:
So smoucher  noun, smous noun; smouching  verbal noun, smousing, or haggling.
1823 W.W. Bird State of Cape of G.H. 148Smouching, which here is an appropriate word, meaning buying an article, and selling it again at profit, is practiced by all the Cape-Dutch, except a few of the highest class.
1899 ‘S. Erasmus’ Prinsloo 74A young Jewish smoucher broke his leg by falling down a shaft on Piet’s place.
1920 R. Juta Tavern 56They found a word for the legitimized bargaining — ‘smouching’ mostly indulged in by the women.
1926 P.W. Laidler Tavern of Ocean 98They were much given to ‘smouching’ or ‘smousing’ — buying articles from the stores and selling them again at a profit.
1968 K. McMagh Dinner of Herbs 31The smous was almost without exception a Jew, a trader who had his beginnings in the custom of smouching or smousing in the early days at the Cape.
Entry Navigation

Derivatives

smoucher
smouching

Browse Related Words

By Category

Economics and Commerce
Occupations

By Usage

obsolete or obsolescent
smouch, nounn.smous, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English