Smýkat

Smýkat is a Czech verb meaning to move an object across a surface by dragging or sliding it, often leaving a mark, track, or smear. The sense may be literal, as when pushing a chair or dragging a brush through paint, or more figurative, describing a motion that is smooth, sweeping, or shifting along a path. In addition to the literal sense of dragging, smýkat can also describe distributing a coating, such as spreading paint or mud by pulling it along a surface.

The word is part of standard Czech vocabulary and belongs to the class of verbs ending in -kat. It conjugates like other regular Czech -kat verbs, with forms that align to the language’s usual present, past, and future tenses. Its related noun smýkání denotes the act of dragging, sliding, or slipping, and the related noun smyk refers to a skid or slip, especially in driving or motion contexts. These related terms help distinguish the broader semantic field around movement along surfaces, contact, and friction.

In usage, smýkat can describe both concrete physical actions and broader observational descriptions of motion. It appears in descriptive prose, technical writing, and everyday speech when the author wants to convey a sense of dragging, sliding, or spreading along a path. As with many Czech verbs, precise meaning is shaped by context and accompanying adverbs or prepositional phrases.