besmear

[ bih-smeer ]

/ bɪˈsmɪər /

to smear all over; bedaub.

to sully; defile; soil: to besmear someone's reputation.

Origin of besmear

before 1050; Middle English bismeren, Old English besmerian. See be-, smear

be·smear·er, noun un·be·smeared, adjective

They make little fires during the day, sleeping at night among the warm ashes, with which they besmear their bodies.

A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume IX. |Robert Kerr
His intensity of loathing leads him to besmear his antagonists with filth.

Swift |Leslie Stephen
They fashion his image of kadamb7 wood and besmear it with red lead.

The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India |R. V. Russell
When serpents sting, the only remedy is to kill the serpent, and besmear the wound with the fat.

Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Vol. I (of 2) |Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Letter (from L. linere, to besmear); so called because smeared on parchment and not cut on wood.

Orthography |Elmer W. Cavins

besmear

/ (bɪˈsmɪə) /

to smear over; daub

to sully; defile (often in the phrase besmear (a person's) reputation)