1778, "break to pieces," earlier "kick downstairs" (c.1700), probably of imitative origin (cf. smack, mash). Smashed "drunk" is slang from 1962. Smash-up "collision" is recorded from 1856; smash-and-grab is first attested 1927. Smashing "pleasing, sensational" is from 1911.
smash
1839, "failure, financial collapse," from smash (v.). Tennis sense is from 1882. Meaning "great success" is from 1923 ("Variety" headline, Oct. 16, in ref. to Broadway productions of "The Fool" and "The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly").
mod. alcohol or drug intoxicated. : He was so smashed he couldn't stand up.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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