Big Smoke

English

Proper noun

the Big Smoke

1. (UK, informal) London.

   Synonym: the Smoke

   • 1898, Frank Thomas Bullen, The Cruise of the Cachalot‎^[1]:

     The first man I spoke to was Whitechapel to the backbone, plainly to be spotted as such as if it had been tattooed on his forehead. Making myself at home with him, I desired to know what brought him so far from the "big smoke," and on board a whaler of all places in the world.

2. (Ireland, informal) Dublin.

   Synonym: the Big Shmoke

3. (Canada, informal) Toronto.
4. (by extension) Any large city.