besmear
Americanverb (used with object)
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to smear all over; bedaub.
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to sully; defile; soil.
to besmear someone's reputation.
verb
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to smear over; daub
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to sully; defile (often in the phrase besmear ( a person's ) reputation )
Other Word Forms
- besmearer noun
- unbesmeared adjective
Etymology
Origin of besmear
before 1050; Middle English bismeren, Old English besmerian. See be-, smear
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“Stoop, Romans, stoop/ And let us bathe our hands in Caesar’s blood/ Up to the elbows, and besmear our swords,” Brutus cries after the assassination.
From Time
They had thrown away their hats and coats, and besmeared with powder and smoke were loading and firing, each for himself.
From Project Gutenberg
With blood besmeared, and white with foam, While big the tears of anguish pour, He seeks, amid the forest's gloom, The humble hermit's hallowed bower.
From Project Gutenberg
An instant after, four Indians entered the room, all armed with tomahawks, and all besmeared with blood, upon every part of their bodies.
From Project Gutenberg
To daub over; to besmear or soil with anything thick and dirty.
From Project Gutenberg
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
