besmear
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to smear all over; bedaub.
-
to sully; defile; soil.
to besmear someone's reputation.
verb
-
to smear over; daub
-
to sully; defile (often in the phrase besmear ( a person's ) reputation )
Other Word Forms
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.
They eat a little from my hand, But would prefer to starve, than stand Besmeared by that uncleanly band.
From Poems by Stoddard, John L. (John Lawson)
The rogues ere long began to show As many colors as the bow; For paint and varnish lately spread Besmeared them all from foot to head.
From The Brownies: Their Book by Cox, Palmer
Besmeared and bespattered, he quickly picked himself up; and when, a moment later, he gained the sidewalk, no one would hardly have recognized in the dilapidated-looking creature the dapper Hugh Ridgeway.
From Nedra by McCutcheon, George Barr
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.
