my favourite english word

Smite

A fantastic word. When used in the King James Bible sense, it means to kill, to beat, to incinerate, to maim, to strike repeatedly with lightning bolts, to fold, spindle, and mutilate all at once. The (modern) object of a smiting is usually a younger sibling, although cats and roommates are common victims as well. Perfect to use because threatening to smite someone means that they're definitely going to be dead, or wish that they were, but the exact means by which this will be carried out is unspecified.

Examples of proper usage:

• "Oh, and Chris? If you even think about opening my bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups while I'm gone, I'm going to smite you into next week, okay?"
• "I'm going to smite that little troll and the 486 he rode in on if I ever see him in here again."

Also has lots of really cool past tenses, including (according to Webster 1913) smit, smote, smoth, smitten, smoten, and smut.

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Smite (?), v. t. [imp. Smoth (?), rarely Smit (); p. p. Smitten (?), rarely Smit, or Smote; p. pr. & vb. n. Smiting (?).] [AS. smitan to smite, to soil, pollute; akin to OFries. smita to smite, LG. smiten, D. smijten, G. schmeissen, OHG. smiezan to smear, stroke, OSw. & dial. Sw. smita to smite, Dan. smiide to throw, Goth. bismeitan, to anoint, besmear; cf. Skr. md to be fat. The original sense seems to have been, to daub on, to smear. Cf. Smut.]

1.

To strike; to inflict a blow upon with the hand, or with any instrument held in the hand, or with a missile thrown by the hand; as, to smite with the fist, with a rod, sword, spear, or stone.

Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. Matt. v. 39.

And David . . . took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead. 1 Sam. xvii. 49.

2.

To cause to strike; to use as an instrument in striking or hurling.

Profpesy, and smite thine hands together. Ezek. xxi. 14.

Saul . . . smote the javelin into the wall. 1 Sam. xix. 10.

3.

To destroy the life of by beating, or by weapons of any kind; to slay by a blow; to kill; as, to smite one with the sword, or with an arrow or other instrument.

4.

To put to rout in battle; to overthrow by war.

5.

To blast; to destroy the life or vigor of, as by a stroke or by some visitation.

The flax and the barley was smitten. Ex. ix. 31.

6.

To afflict; to chasten; to punish.

Let us not mistake God's goodness, nor imagine, because he smites us, that we are forsaken by him. Wake.

7.

To strike or affect with passion, as love or fear.

The charms that smite the simple heart. Pope.

Smith with the love of sister arts we came. Pope.

To smite off, to cut off. -- To smite out, to knock out, as a tooth. Exod,xxi.27. -- To smite with the tongue, to reproach or upbarid; to revile. [Obs.]

Jer. xviii. 18.

via everithing2