Smeddum

Alternative forms

smitham, smithum

Origin

From Middle English smedma, from Old English smedma, smedema ("fine flour, pollen meal, meal").

Full definition of smeddum

Noun

smeddum

(uncountable)

Fine powder; flour.
The powder or finest part of ground malt.
(mining) Smitham.
(Scotland) Zest, energy; pluck; sagacity; quickness of apprehension; gumption; spirit; mettle.

1933, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Cloud Howe, Polygon 2006 (A Scots Quair), p. 271:maybe there were better folk far in Segget, but few enough with smeddum like his.

(UK dialectal, Northern England) Ore small enough to pass through the wire bottom of a sieve.
(UK dialectal, Northern England) A layer of clay or shale between two beds of coal. ----