Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To smear.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To smear over or about; bedaub; overspread with any viscous matter, or with any soft substance that adheres; hence, to foul; soil; sully.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To smear with any viscous, glutinous matter; to bedaub; to soil.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To smear over; smear all over; sully.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb spread or daub (a surface)

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English bismeorwen, to make filthy, from Old English besmirwan, to besmear : be-, be- + smierwan, to smear.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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").

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Examples

  • Now, my English has gone to hell, but I can't ever remember using the word "besmear" even though I vaguely know what it means.

    Archive 2008-06-01 Ronda 2008

  • Now, my English has gone to hell, but I can't ever remember using the word "besmear" even though I vaguely know what it means.

    Besmear One's Mouth Ronda 2008

  • When Serpents sting, the only Remedy is – to kill the Serpent, and besmear the Wound with the Fat.

    Annotations 2007

  • And, you know what, it does say something about a culture that has a word that means to besmear one's mouth and hands with fat when eating.

    Besmear One's Mouth Ronda 2008

  • So, I enter the word in the handy-dandy online dictionary and find this: "besmear one's mouth and hands with fat when eating."

    Besmear One's Mouth Ronda 2008

  • Who could believe that someone so upstanding would stoop to besmear himself in the slush of Teapot Dome?

    The Prize Daniel Yergin 2008

  • Who could believe that someone so upstanding would stoop to besmear himself in the slush of Teapot Dome?

    The Prize Daniel Yergin 2008

  • And, you know what, it does say something about a culture that has a word that means to besmear one's mouth and hands with fat when eating.

    Archive 2008-06-01 Ronda 2008

  • As I was going through my dictionary, I found the word "hlamukela" meaning to besmear one's mouth.

    Archive 2008-06-01 Ronda 2008

  • Brian and I laughed out loud when we read your story about "besmear."

    Besmear One's Mouth Ronda 2008

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