smear
Americanverb (used with object)
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to spread or daub (an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance) on or over something.
to smear butter on bread.
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to spread or daub an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance on.
to smear bread with butter.
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to stain, spot, or make dirty with something oily, greasy, viscous, or wet.
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to sully, vilify, or soil (a reputation, good name, etc.).
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to smudge or blur, as by rubbing.
The signature was smeared.
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Slang. to defeat decisively; overwhelm.
They smeared the home team.
noun
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an oily, greasy, viscous, or wet substance, especially a dab of such a substance.
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a stain, spot, or mark made by such a substance.
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a smudge.
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something smeared or to be smeared on a thing, as a glaze for pottery.
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a small quantity of something spread thinly on a slide for microscopic examination.
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vilification.
a smear by a cheap gossip columnist.
verb
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to bedaub or cover with oil, grease, etc
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to rub over or apply thickly
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to rub so as to produce a smudge
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to slander
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slang to defeat completely
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(intr) to be or become smeared or dirtied
noun
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a dirty mark or smudge
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a slanderous attack
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( as modifier )
smear tactics
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a preparation of blood, secretions, etc, smeared onto a glass slide for examination under a microscope
Other Word Forms
- smearer noun
- unsmeared adjective
Etymology
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; emery
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.
Iqbal Mohamed said last week he had decided to leave Your Party, citing "false allegations and smears against me and others".
From Barron's
In one, a child smeared 14 different products on her face before developing a burning rash.
From Barron's
It added that the accusations from the president were an attempt to smear China and interfere in its domestic affairs.
From BBC
In a statement on social media, Iqbal Mohamed did not say why he was leaving but made reference to "false allegations and smears made against me".
From BBC
Schmidt’s attorneys have called her legal filings a “blatant abuse of the judicial system” and a “transparent hit piece intended to smear and defame” Schmidt, according to court records.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
