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besmear

verb

Etymology

From Middle English *bismerwen, from Old English besmirwan, besmierwan (“to besmear”), equivalent to be- + smear. Cognate with Dutch besmeren (“to besmear”), German beschmieren (“to besmear”).

  1. inherited from besmirwan
  2. inherited from bismeoruwed

Definitions

  1. To smear over, to smear all over, to daub.

    • I long to ſee thee backe returne from thence, That I may view theſe milk-white ſteeds of mine. All loden with the heads of killed men, And from their knees, euen to their hoofes below, Beſmer’d with blood, that makes a dainty ſhow.
    • […] carters and coachmen, who make in imitation thereof a composition of grease and tar, with which they besmear the inside of the naves of wheels and the extremitys of the axis upon which they move.

  2. To damage the reputation of, to tarnish, to sully.

    • His public record is already besmeared with tawdry divorces, […]

The neighborhood

Derived

besmearer

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for besmear. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA