besmear

American  

[bih-smeer] / bɪˈsmɪər /

verb (used with object)

1. to smear all over; bedaub.

2. to sully; defile; soil.

   to besmear someone's reputation.

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besmear British  

/ bɪˈsmɪə /

verb

1. to smear over; daub

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

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Other Word Forms

• besmearer
  noun
• unbesmeared
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of besmear

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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

besmear

She was about to besmear her face, when lady Feng pleaded: "My dear child, do let me off this time!"

From Hung Lou Meng, Book II Or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel in Two Books by H. Bencraft Joly

Of course, you will cut your beautiful locks, besmear your cheeks, and there you are.

From Six Women and the Invasion by Gabrielle Yerta

“They are gentlemen, no matter how much you may wish to besmear them with low epithets.”

From The Squatter and the Don by C. Loyal

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

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 09 Arranged in Systematic Order: Forming a Complete History of the Origin and Progress of Navigation, Discovery, and Commerce, by Sea and Land, from the Earliest Ages to the Present Time by Robert Kerr

There is no arrogance so great as the proclaiming of other men's errors and faults, by those who understand nothing but the dregs of actions, and who make it their business to besmear deserving fames.

From Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry by Albert Pike

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