smoothlysmooth‧ly /ˈsmuːðli/ ●○○ adverb 
Traffic flowed smoothly.2if a planned event, piece of work etc goes smoothly, there are no problems to spoil it: It’ll take about three hours if everything goes smoothly. Donna keeps the office running smoothly.3if you say something smoothly, you say it in a calm and confident way: ‘All taken care of,’ he said smoothly.4in a way that produces a smooth surface: The jacket fit smoothly over her hips.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Practice the scales until you can play them smoothly.
- With one-way streets, cars will move more smoothly and rapidly through the neighborhood.
- A pianist neither acquires nor executes the behavior of playing a scale smoothly because of a prior intention of doing so.
- So faster wage rises were needed if the system was to function smoothly.
- The train ran on smoothly towards Chancery Lane.
- This elicited squeals, laughter and elaborate pay-back schemes, all tolerated only as long as the work continued smoothly.
- Though the court view is rendered well and rotates smoothly, there is one minor flaw.
- While most of the day went smoothly, there were moments of tension among some of the officers.
- While past cease-fires and attempts at disarmament have failed, the current peace process has gone relatively smoothly.
Longman Language Activatorwhen something happens without any problems at all
if something you have arranged such as an event or journey goes like clockwork , it happens in exactly the way that was planned, with no problems at all: · After all that fuss, everything went like clockwork. You should have seen it.· 'Everything go all right?' 'Like clockwork.'· All through that summer, work on the farm went like clockwork.
if a planned event, journey, piece of work etc goes smoothly , there are no problems to spoil it: · If all goes smoothly, elections are expected in May.· In rehearsal, everything went smoothly, even the difficult fight scenes.· My presentation went remarkably smoothly, until one student asked an awkward question right at the end.
if a planned action or event happens without a hitch , it happens exactly as planned with no problems at all, even though some may have been expected: · The first phase of the operation was completed without a hitch.· TCI say they hope that approval will be granted for the takeover without a hitch.· Except for the priest forgetting the groom's middle name, the ceremony came off without a hitch.
if something that has been carefully planned goes according to plan , it happens in exactly the way you planned it would: · Development of our new computer system is going according to plan and it should be in operation by October.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY It’ll take about three hours if everything goes smoothly. Donna keeps the office running smoothly.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES The party went well. Everything’s going fine at the moment. Andy kept things running smoothly (=happening in the way they should) while I was away.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSVERB
It’ll take about three hours if everything goes smoothly. Donna keeps the office running smoothly. The party went well. Everything’s going fine at the moment. Andy kept things running smoothly (=happening in the way they should) while I was away.· This elicited squeals, laughter and elaborate pay-back schemes, all tolerated only as long as the work continued smoothly.
· The toastmaster opens the proceedings and keeps them flowing smoothly.· He waltzed her around the room a little as the soft music started to flow smoothly over them.· If you succeed in this, your cuts will be effectively invisible, and the images will flow smoothly.· This allows traffic to flow smoothly between networks. 2.· But as experience is gained through constant repetition, each movement of the form begins to flow smoothly into the next.· Bonnie invited her input, and gave her the assignment to get things flowing smoothly.· Above all, the notes need to be spot on while allowing the overall rhythm to flow smoothly.· This keeps the solution flowing smoothly and, together with keeping the solution at 2°C, stops convection currents building up.
· Thus everything went smoothly when the peace conference reconvened at Michaelmas at Montlouis, between Tours and Amboise.· Everyone involved has incentive for the transition to go smoothly.· That was to say, up to a point everything went smoothly.· And while her comeback has had its moments, not everything has gone smoothly.· There were only three days now before the show and things were not going smoothly.· While most of the day went smoothly, there were moments of tension among some of the officers.· The transition to the new order did not seem to be going smoothly.· Try the demonstration yourself first to be sure it will go smoothly.
· This minor invention, which enables traffic to move smoothly and with a minimum of accidents, exploited a process need.· Hank was holding Louise in an old fashioned embrace, as if for waltzing, but they moved smoothly to the song.· It moves smoothly and pleasantly through the course of her dedicated career without any recognition of her gender constituting a difficulty.· Once you have one ball moving smoothly, you can try two.· The goal looked like the signal for Bucks to move smoothly towards their first championship since 1982.· Publishers such as Ackermann had to employ a considerable body of engravers and watercolourists to keep the work moving smoothly.· He moved smoothly, almost imperceptibly.· Yet Mr Andreotti moved smoothly into the premiership.
· Throughout, there are no awkward melodic leaps; everything proceeds smoothly, by arpeggio or by step.· For the first weeks, all proceeded smoothly.· The need for a certain amount of scrapping if accumulation is to proceed smoothly determines a necessary rise in product wages.
· Once the engine is running smoothly, a backfire can be dramatic.· Tiny, energetic, imaginative, she drove advertising sales to ever-new heights and kept the business departments running smoothly.· But it's just to keep things running smoothly.· Microsoft executives emphasized that Explorer, when integrated with other company software, can smoothly run large company intranets.· Together they pulled back the high door, which despite its rustic appearance, ran smoothly on well-greased and balanced rollers.· I am here to see that this runs smoothly for New York and New York delegation.· Yes, things were running smoothly once more.· Though they seemed to have refined the outward form of marriage, I suspected that underneath not everything ran smoothly.
· Mattie pressed the automatic device on her dashboard and the garage door eased upwards for the Lincoln to slide smoothly in.· The cruel blade slid smoothly from its sheath into his right hand.· The exoskeleton slid smoothly open and a little tune - Climb Every Mountain - issued tonelessly from a small loudspeaker somewhere.· This city could reconfigure parts of itself, great vitrodur panels sliding smoothly, tilting, canting.· A small panel on the hull slid smoothly back.
· In general, this works smoothly for their customers.· Under circumstances such as these, it became very difficult to work smoothly together.· Generally it is recommended that there is more fibre in the diet to keep the gut working smoothly and efficiently.· Fifty years now; fifty years to establish themselves and set up Encyclopedia Foundation Number One into a smoothly working unit.
WORD FAMILYnounsmoothnesssmoothieadjectivesmoothverbsmoothadverbsmoothly
1in a steady way, without stopping and starting again: Traffic flowed smoothly.2if a planned event, piece of work etc goes smoothly, there are no problems to spoil it: It’ll take about three hours if everything goes smoothly. Donna keeps the office running smoothly.3if you say something smoothly, you say it in a calm and confident way: ‘All taken care of,’ he said smoothly.4in a way that produces a smooth surface: The jacket fit smoothly over her hips.