The Smite and its tributaries, such as the River Whipling, the Stroom Dyke, and the Dalby Brook, drain an area of 193 square kilometres (75 sq mi) of farmland in the Vale of Belvoir.

This and the modern spelling are thought to derive from the Old English smita, denoting a foul or miry place.

[4][5][6][7] Various tributaries that descend from the Bleak Hills join the Smite as it flows in a north-westerly direction, before turning north-east at the bottom of the escarpment, into the lower-lying Vale of Belvoir.

This tributary drains the south-west of the catchment, rising near Old Dalby, then flowing between Upper and Nether Broughton and past Hickling to the junction with the Smite.

The Whipling and tributaries drain some 52 square kilometres (20 sq mi) of the Vale of Belvoir, contributing about a quarter of the Smite's catchment area.