smear

[ smeer ]

/ smɪər /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR smear ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to spread or daub (an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance) on or over something: to smear butter on bread.

to spread or daub an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance on: to smear bread with butter.

to stain, spot, or make dirty with something oily, greasy, viscous, or wet.

to sully, vilify, or soil (a reputation, good name, etc.).

to smudge or blur, as by rubbing: The signature was smeared.

Slang. to defeat decisively; overwhelm: They smeared the home team.

noun

an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance, especially a dab of such a substance.

a stain, spot, or mark made by such a substance.

a smudge.

something smeared or to be smeared on a thing, as a glaze for pottery.

a small quantity of something spread thinly on a slide for microscopic examination.

vilification: a smear by a cheap gossip columnist.

Origin of smear

before 900; (v.) Middle English smeren, smirien to rub with fat, anoint, Old English smirian, smerian, smerwan; cognate with Dutch smeren, German schmieren, Old Norse smyrja, smyrwa; (noun) in current senses derivative of the v.; compare obsolete smear fat, grease, ointment, Middle English smere, Old English smeoru, cognate with Dutch smear, German Schmer, Old Norse smjǫr grease, Greek smýris rubbing powder; see emery

OTHER WORDS FROM smear

smear·er, noun un·smeared, adjective

Words nearby smear

smattering, smatv, smaze, smd, sme, smear, smear campaign, smear culture, smear test, smear word, smear-sheet

Example sentences from the Web for smeared

His accuser was smeared and demeaned, and a star football player was allowed to keep on playing.

Jameis Winston Cleared of Rape Like Every Other College Sports Star |Robert Silverman |December 22, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
In the first, we met two muscular young men, almost naked and smeared with a blood-like substance.

Sex, Blood, and Screaming: Blackout’s Dark Frights |Tim Teeman |October 7, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The line between author and audience has been smeared beyond all recognition.

How ‘Battlestar Galactica,’ ‘Game of Thrones,’ and FanFiction Conquered Pop Culture |Arthur Chu |May 6, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
They scorned and smeared Hillary Clinton when she was the first lady.

Obama, Clinton Scored Back to Back Home Runs With Their Speeches |Robert Shrum |September 8, 2012 |DAILY BEAST

The net effect is that Romney is, however against his own will it might be, prepared to be smeared as a tax-raiser.

Romney’s Big Tax Bluff: Why It Will Haunt Him |Michael Tomasky |July 5, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
A filthy scramble left him smeared and disheveled on the summit.

Dragon's blood |Henry Milner Rideout
In the morning the doors were smeared with pitch, and those in the house chewed whitethorn to keep off the evil spirits.

Greek and Roman Ghost Stories |Lacy Collison-Morley
In the Pullman washroom Grant collapsed to the seat and smeared soap into his eyes while he tried to check tears of laughter.

Dust of the Desert |Robert Welles Ritchie
The girl who marries him will have to be smeared with diamonds, and know the most appalling people.

The Motor Maid |Alice Muriel Williamson and Charles Norris Williamson
I'm the three-year-old ox, all made of straw and smeared over with pitch.

More Russian Picture Tales |Valery Carrick

British Dictionary definitions for smeared

smear

/ (smɪə) /

verb (mainly tr)

to bedaub or cover with oil, grease, etc

to rub over or apply thickly

to rub so as to produce a smudge

to slander

US slang to defeat completely

(intr) to be or become smeared or dirtied

noun

a dirty mark or smudge

a slanderous attack
(as modifier)smear tactics

a preparation of blood, secretions, etc, smeared onto a glass slide for examination under a microscope

Derived forms of smear

smearer, noun

Word Origin for smear

Old English smeoru (n); related to Old Norse smjör fat, Old High German smero, Greek muron ointment

Medical definitions for smeared

smear

[ smîr ]

n.

A sample, as of blood or bacterial cells, spread thinly on a slide and usually stained for microscopic examination or applied to the surface of a culture medium.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

smear

verb (used with object)

noun

Origin of smear

OTHER WORDS FROM smear

Words nearby smear

Example sentences from the Web for smeared

British Dictionary definitions for smeared

verb (mainly tr)

noun

Derived forms of smear

Word Origin for smear

Medical definitions for smeared

n.

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

smear

verb (used with object)

noun

Origin of smear

OTHER WORDS FROM smear

Words nearby smear

Words related to smeared

Example sentences from the Web for smeared

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for smeared

verb (mainly tr)

noun

Derived forms of smear

Word Origin for smear

Medical definitions for smeared

n.

British Dictionary definitions for smeared