Meaning & use
smithy
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Meaning
nouncountableold-fashioned
The workshop of a blacksmith, where iron is heated and hammered into shape.
Grammar: Countable: the village smithy, two smithies.
Patterns
- the smithy of a village
- work in a smithy
Sparks flew from the smithy as the blacksmith shaped a horseshoe.
The village smithy stood beside the old stone bridge.
Visitors can watch iron being hammered in the museum's smithy.
Word forms
| plural | smithies |
|---|
Common combinations
- village smithy
- The village smithy was the busiest place on market day.
- work in the smithy
- He worked in the smithy from the age of fourteen.
- the smithy fire
- The smithy fire glowed orange in the dark.
- an old smithy
- They turned an old smithy into a cottage.
- a working smithy
- The farm museum has a working smithy.
Synonyms and how they differ
- forge
- Forge can mean the hearth itself or the whole workshop, while smithy is mainly the building where the smith works.
- blacksmith's shop
- Blacksmith's shop is a plain description, and smithy is the shorter, more traditional word.
- foundry
- A foundry melts metal and pours it into molds, while a smithy shapes heated metal by hammering.
Word family
- smith noun
- a person who makes things from metal
- blacksmith noun
- a smith who works with iron
- goldsmith noun
- a person who makes objects of gold
- smithing noun
- the craft of shaping metal by hammering
Commonly confused: smithy or smithereens?
smithy vs smithereens
Smithereens means tiny broken pieces, as in smashed to smithereens. It is unrelated to a smith's workshop.
Practice
The blacksmith heated the iron bar in the ___ and hammered it into a hook.
Choose one answer.
A smithy is where a blacksmith works with hot metal. A stable is for horses, so it is a tempting setting for a blacksmith but not where metal is shaped.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “smithy”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.