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smithereens

[ smith-uh-reenz ]

/ ˌsmɪð əˈrinz /

plural noun

small pieces; bits: broken into smithereens.

Also smith·ers

[smith -erz] /ˈsmɪð ərz/.

Origin of smithereens

1820–30; dial. smithers (< ?) + Hiberno-English -een diminutive suffix (< Irish -ín)

Words nearby smithereens

smith's operation, smith, , smith, adam, smith, captain john, smith, joseph, smithereens, smithery, smithfield, smithfield ham, smithson, smithsonian institution

Example sentences from the Web for smithereens

Also, Mary is dead now and her grill has probably been blown to smithereens.

‘The Walking Dead’ Review: Carol Is the Hero of the Zombie Apocalypse |Melissa Leon |October 13, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Nevertheless, Grande manages to shoot her foes to smithereens.

Ariana Grande’s Gay-Friendly Intergalactic Dance Party |Amy Zimmerman |August 13, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
New York residents—and moviegoers in general—are conditioned to seeing the Big Apple blown to smithereens.

‘White House Down,’ ‘Olympus Has Fallen’: Washington Destroyed in Film |Kevin Fallon |July 1, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
Meanwhile, the bomb explodes, blowing him and his pals to smithereens.

MacGruber's Big Score |Bryan Curtis |March 16, 2010 |DAILY BEAST

I think that embedded in these agreements are three ticking time bombs that could blow them to smithereens.

Russia's Ticking Time Bomb |The Daily Beast |July 8, 2009 |DAILY BEAST
I just got inside the door to see the McCarthy arms in smithereens!

The Dodd Family Abroad, Vol. I.(of II) |Charles James Lever
A model of a statue which he had just finished with a desperate effort was smashed to smithereens on its way to exhibition.

The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) |Robert Louis Stevenson
A hostile destroyer was doing her level best to blow the trapped submarine to smithereens.

A Sub and a Submarine |Percy F. Westerman
I think the best use you can put a rattlesnake to is to blow him into smithereens, which is what I am going to do.

Two Boys in Wyoming |Edward S. Ellis
I know it is not polite but would you be so kind as to do me the great favor of not blowing the Impolite Pirates into smithereens.

Barty Crusoe and His Man Saturday |Frances Hodgson Burnett

British Dictionary definitions for smithereens

smithereens

/ (ˌsmɪðəˈriːnz) /

pl n

little shattered pieces or fragments

Word Origin for smithereens

C19: from Irish Gaelic smidirīn, from smiodar