smoke
a.shan denotes visible smoke, whether rising from fire or used in comparisons of vanishing and irritation.
The noun most often denotes visible smoke associated with fire, rising from places, or forming columns; it also occurs in comparisons for what dissipates and in an image of irritation.
Senses in use
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Visible smoke rising or gathering · dominant
The singular noun occurs where smoke rises from a mountain, a captured city, or as a signal: in Exodus 19:18 the APB renders Mount Sinai as wrapped in smoke and says its smoke went up, while Joshua 8:20 and Joshua 8:21 describe the smoke of the city rising. In Judges 20:38 and Judges 20:40, the rising cloud or pillar from the city functions as the arranged signal; Song of Songs 3:6 describes columns of smoke coming up from the wilderness.
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Smoke in comparative and figurative imagery · common
The noun is used in comparisons rather than to report a visible plume. In Hosea 13:3 the APB compares the people to smoke from a window, Isaiah 51:6 compares the heavens' dissipation to smoke, and Psalm 37:20 compares the enemies' vanishing to smoke; Proverbs 10:26 places smoke alongside vinegar as an image for the effect of a sluggard on those who send him.
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across the cited verses, the APB commonly uses “smoke” for visible rising or gathered smoke and uses smoke in comparisons of dissipation or irritation. Because the APB is a whole-verse translation, its wording cannot isolate every occurrence precisely.