pass the bottle of smoke

English

Verb

pass the bottle of smoke (third-person singular simple present passes the bottle of smoke, present participle passing the bottle of smoke, simple past and past participle passed the bottle of smoke)

1. (rare) To acquiesce in some falsehood; to make pretence.
   • 1855 December – 1857 June, Charles Dickens, Little Dorrit, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1857, →OCLC:

     To help myself in my turn, as the man before me helps himself in his, and pass the bottle of smoke. To keep up the pretence as to labour, and study, and patience, and being devoted to my art, and giving up many solitary days to it, and abandoning many pleasures for it, and living in it, and all the rest of it—in short, to pass the bottle of smoke, according to rule.

   • 2000, Pradip Biswas, Sandip Ray: Take One, page 8:

     The special streak of the young talent that fascinates me more is the strong impulse to stand against standardized cunning ploy of passing the bottle of smoke in the name of cinema.

Related terms

• blow smoke
• smoke blower