Main Difference
The main difference between Smoke and Mist is that the Smoke is a mass of airborne particulates and gases and Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in air
Smoke
Smoke is a collection of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-product of fires (including stoves, candles, oil lamps, and fireplaces), but may also be used for pest control (fumigation), communication (smoke signals), defensive and offensive capabilities in the military (smoke screen), cooking, or smoking (tobacco, cannabis, etc.). It is used in rituals where incense, sage, or resin is burned to produce a smell for spiritual purposes. Smoke is sometimes used as a flavoring agent, and preservative for various foodstuffs. Smoke is also a component of internal combustion engine exhaust gas, particularly diesel exhaust.
Smoke inhalation is the primary cause of death in victims of indoor fires. The smoke kills by a combination of thermal damage, poisoning and pulmonary irritation caused by carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and other combustion products.
Smoke is an aerosol (or mist) of solid particles and liquid droplets that are close to the ideal range of sizes for Mie scattering of visible light. This effect has been likened to three-dimensional textured privacy glass — a smoke cloud does not obstruct an image, but thoroughly scrambles it.
Mist
Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in air. Physically, it is an example of a dispersion. It is most commonly seen where warm, moist air meets sudden cooling, such as in exhaled air in the winter, or when throwing water onto the hot stove of a sauna. It can be created artificially with aerosol canisters if the humidity and temperature conditions are right. It can also occur as part of natural weather, when humid air cools rapidly, for example when the air comes into contact with surfaces that are much cooler than the air.
The formation of mist, as of other suspensions, is greatly aided by the presence of nucleation sites on which the suspended water phase can congeal. Thus even such unusual sources as small particulates from volcanic eruptions, releases of strongly polar gases, and even the magnetospheric ions associated with polar lights can in right conditions trigger the formation of mist and can make mirrors appear foggy. Mist on mirrors should not be mistaken for condensation as they are very different. Mist is a collection of water droplets but condensation is the water droplets in a different form.
Mist is commonly mistaken for fog. These two things are very different, however they do have some things in common. Fog and mist are both formed the same way. Fog is denser and generally lasts for longer but mist is thinner and you can see more clearly through it.
Smoke (noun)
The visible vapor/vapour, gases, and fine particles given off by burning or smoldering material.
Smoke (noun)
A cigarette.
“Can I bum a smoke off you?;”
“I need to go buy some smokes.”
Smoke (noun)
Anything to smoke (e.g. cigarettes, marijuana, etc.)
“Hey, you got some smoke?”
Smoke (noun)
An instance of smoking a cigarette, cigar, etc.; the duration of this act.
“I’m going out for a smoke.”
Smoke (noun)
A fleeting illusion; something insubstantial, evanescent, unreal, transitory, or without result.
“The excitement behind the new candidate proved to be smoke.”
Smoke (noun)
Something used to obscure or conceal; an obscuring condition; see also smoke and mirrors.
“The smoke of controversy.”
Smoke (noun)
A light grey colour/color tinted with blue.
“color panel|D6E2E2”
Smoke (noun)
A screening smoke, signaling smoke, smoke curtain, smoke haze, and smoke deception. Thus it is an artificial aerosol.
Smoke (noun)
A fastball.
Smoke (verb)
To inhale and exhale the smoke from a burning cigarette, cigar, pipe, etc.
“He’s smoking his pipe.”
Smoke (verb)
To inhale and exhale tobacco smoke.
“Do you smoke?”
Smoke (verb)
To give off smoke.
“My old truck was still smoking even after the repairs.”
Smoke (verb)
To preserve or prepare (food) for consumption by treating with smoke.
“You’ll need to smoke the meat for several hours.”
Smoke (verb)
To fill or scent with smoke; hence, to fill with incense; to perfume.
Smoke (verb)
To perform (e.g. music) energetically or skillfully. Almost always in present participle form.
“The horn section was really smokin’ on that last tune.”
Smoke (verb)
To beat someone at something.
“We smoked them at rugby.”
Smoke (verb)
To kill, especially with a gun.
“He got smoked by the mob.”
Smoke (verb)
To smell out; to hunt out; to find out; to detect.
Smoke (verb)
To ridicule to the face; to mock.
Smoke (verb)
To burn; to be kindled; to rage.
Smoke (verb)
To raise a dust or smoke by rapid motion.
Smoke (verb)
To suffer severely; to be punished.
Smoke (verb)
To punish for a minor offense by excessive physical exercise.
Smoke (adjective)
Of the colour known as smoke.
Smoke (adjective)
Made of or with smoke.
Mist (noun)
Water or other liquid finely suspended in air.
“It was difficult to see through the morning mist.”
Mist (noun)
A layer of fine droplets or particles.
“There was an oily mist on the lens.”
Mist (noun)
Anything that dims or darkens, and obscures or intercepts vision.
Mist (verb)
To form mist.
“It’s misting this morning.”
Mist (verb)
To spray fine droplets on, particularly of water.
“I mist my tropical plants every morning.”
Mist (verb)
To cover with a mist.
“The lens was misted.”
Mist (verb)
To be covered by tears.
“My eyes misted when I remembered what had happened.”
Smoke (noun)
a visible suspension of carbon or other particles in air, typically one emitted from a burning substance
“bonfire smoke”
Smoke (noun)
an act of smoking tobacco
“I’m dying for a smoke”
Smoke (noun)
a cigarette or cigar
“you’re going to buy some smokes of your own”
Smoke (noun)
a big city, especially London
“she was offered a job in the Smoke”
Smoke (verb)
emit smoke or visible vapour
“heat the oil until it just smokes”
Smoke (verb)
inhale and exhale the smoke of tobacco or a drug
“Janine was sitting at the kitchen table smoking”
“he smoked forty cigarettes a day”
Smoke (verb)
treat, fumigate, or cleanse by exposure to smoke.
Smoke (verb)
cure or preserve (meat or fish) by exposure to smoke
“smoked salmon”
Smoke (verb)
treat (glass) so as to darken it
“the smoked glass of his lenses”
Smoke (verb)
subdue (insects, especially bees) by exposing them to smoke
“they then smoke the bees until they are stupid”
Smoke (verb)
drive someone or something out of a place by using smoke
“we will fire the roof and smoke him out”
Smoke (verb)
force someone to make something known
“as the press smokes him out on other human rights issues, he will be revealed as a social conservative”
Smoke (verb)
kill (someone) by shooting
“they gotta go smoke this person”
Smoke (verb)
defeat overwhelmingly in a fight or contest
“I got smoked in that fight”
Smoke (verb)
make fun of (someone)
“we baited her and smoked her”
Mist (noun)
a cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth’s surface that limits visibility (to a lesser extent than fog; strictly, with visibility remaining above 1 km)
“the peaks were shrouded in mist”
“a mist rose out of the river”
Mist (noun)
a condensed vapour settling in fine droplets on a surface
“a breeze cooled the mist of perspiration that had dampened her temples”
Mist (noun)
a haze or film over the eyes, especially caused by tears, and resulting in blurred vision
“Ruth saw most of the scene through a mist of tears”
Mist (noun)
used in reference to something that blurs one’s perceptions or memory
“Sardinia’s origins are lost in the mists of time”
Mist (verb)
cover or become covered with mist
“the windows of the car were misted up with condensation”
“the glass was beginning to mist up”
Mist (verb)
(of a person’s eyes) become covered with a film of tears causing blurred vision
“her eyes misted over with relief and joy”
Mist (verb)
spray (something, especially a plant) with a fine cloud of water droplets
“don’t mist furry-leaved plants such as African violets”