: a filthy or soiling substance (such as mud, dust, or grime) : dirt
… what's a little schmutz to a New Yorker? That's why we have immune systems.—👁 Image Discover
What to watch while wiping some schmutz off your million dollar face with a hundred dollar bill in the presence of an attractive young lady …—👁 Image Deadspin
… point out the schmutz on a classmate's shirt.—👁 Image Jonathan Marks
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But almost every home needs one to pick up stray pieces of schmutz.—👁 Image Wired, 27 Nov. 2021 Seriously Sometimes even presidents get some schmutz on their chin.—👁 Image New York Times, 31 July 2021 Give all the citrus a good scrub under cold water to get any schmutz off, and then use a vegetable peeler to remove wide strips of the zest from that grapefruit, all those limes, and three of the lemons.—👁 Image Amiel Stanek, Bon Appétit, 30 June 2021 The brown schmutz was once protein-rich tissue.—👁 Image National Geographic, 15 Sep. 2020 After the schmutz is gone, a thorough spritzing with disinfectant can destroy any infectious stragglers.—👁 Image Katherine J. Wu, Popular Science, 16 Mar. 2020 After observing the star on February 14, the researchers found the star ran just as hot as usual, leaving—by process of elimination—the possibility of stellar schmutz, produced by Betelgeuse itself.—👁 Image Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Mar. 2020 None of the Apollo astronauts suffered any long-term ill effects from dust exposure, only acute respiratory problems—which suggests the lunar schmutz might not be too nasty.—👁 Image IEEE Spectrum, 27 June 2019 The other is that the parasite’s egg is unbelievably hardy and damn near resistant to nearly all of our arsenals against eradicating grime, schmutz and filth.—👁 Image Rebecca Kreston, Discover Magazine, 29 Mar. 2012
Word History
Etymology
Yiddish shmuts & German Schmutz, from Middle High German smutzen to soil, damage