Definitions

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

  • noun A portion of cream cheese or another spread, as on a bagel.
  • idiom (whole schmear) The entirety of something; everything.

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

  • noun A spread that goes on a bagel
  • noun A batch of things that go together
  • noun An aggregate
  • verb To spread something (often a schmear in the first noun sense)

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

  • noun (Yiddish) a batch of things that go together

Etymologies

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

[Yiddish shmir, smear, smudge, from shmirn, to smear, grease, from Middle High German smiren, from Old High German smirwen.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Yiddish שמיר (shmir, "smear, spread"); cognate with German schmieren, English smear.

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Examples

  • Hope for Haiti Now includes Jennifer Hudson performance, Anderson Cooper reporting Modern Family creator explains why he "can't stand" reality TV, people followed by cameras Columnist says Obama's presidency "is in danger of becoming" a reality show CBS 'pap smear gift PSA has versions for Christmas, Hanukkah, which says "schmear"

    reality blurred 2010

  • Hope for Haiti Now includes Jennifer Hudson performance, Anderson Cooper reporting Modern Family creator explains why he "can't stand" reality TV, people followed by cameras Columnist says Obama's presidency "is in danger of becoming" a reality show CBS 'pap smear gift PSA has versions for Christmas, Hanukkah, which says "schmear"

    reality blurred 2010

  • Million Dollar Listing keeps up Josh, Chad's contrived conflict, awkward set-ups as Madison comes out Meghan, Cheyne cocky ( "we're the best team ever"); were 10 minutes ahead of Sam, Dan, who explain blurring, are okay with edit CBS 'pap smear gift PSA has versions for Christmas, Hanukkah, which says "schmear"

    reality blurred 2009

  • Columnist says Obama's presidency "is in danger of becoming" a reality show CBS 'pap smear gift PSA has versions for Christmas, Hanukkah, which says "schmear"

    reality blurred 2009

  • the balloons look like lil sperm guys on the "schmear" cake.

    Recycled Wrecks 2010

  • uh huh. not unheard of to see them on a "schmear" slide, either.

    Recycled Wrecks 2010

  • If you toast a bagel, put some schmear on it, add a tomato and some salt and pepper, it's going to be delicious no matter what.

    Strike Back at an Empire State of Mind Aaron Rutkoff 2011

  • Sorry for the schmear-my lens had a run-in with BBQ sauce

    Tri Tip Grill May Be The Best Thing in Rock Center | Midtown Lunch - Finding Lunch in the Food Wasteland of NYC's Midtown Manhattan 2010

  • But, according to the geniuses in Washington, pizza is a vegetable for the purposes of determining what goes into public school lunches by virtue of the fact that pizza traditionally includes a schmear of tomato paste.

    How To Turn Pizza Into A Vegetable The Huffington Post News Team 2011

  • On a completely unrelated note, HuffPost Hill's grandfather -- a real mensch -- always liked to note that mixing scallions, onion slices and Christian blood makes for a FABULOUS schmear.

    HUFFPOST HILL - GOP Split Over King's Gun Control Plan Eliot Nelson 2011

Comments

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  • additonal definitions

    schmear vt. to bribe; n. a bribe: You'll have to schmear the building inspector if you don't want a code violation.

    schmear vt. to apply cream cheese liberally to a bagel; n. the liberal application of cream cheese to a bagel often in preparation for the application of lox.

    Hey, you want a schmear on this bagel?

    July 16, 2009