Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To spread or daub (a surface, for example) with a sticky, greasy, or dirty substance.
- intransitive verb To apply by spreading or daubing.
- intransitive verb To cause to be blurry or spread in unwanted places.
- intransitive verb To stain or attempt to destroy the reputation of; vilify.
- intransitive verb Slang To defeat utterly.
- intransitive verb To spread easily in an undesired way.
- noun A mark made by smearing; a spot or blot.
- noun A substance to be spread on a surface.
- noun Biology A sample, as of blood or bacterial cells, spread on a slide for microscopic examination or on the surface of a culture medium.
- noun Vilification or slander.
- noun A vilifying or slanderous remark.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Fat; grease; ointment.
- noun A spot, blotch, or stain made by, or as if by, some unctuous substanee rubbed upon a surface.
- noun In sugar manufacturing, the technical term for fermentation.
- noun In pottery, a mixture of glazing materials in water, used for coating articles before they are placed in the saggars of the glazing-furnace.
- To overspread with ointment; anoint.
- To overspread thickly, irregularly, or in blotches with anything unctuous, viscous, or adhesive; besmear; daub.
- To overspread too thickly, especially to the violation of good taste; paint, or otherwise adorn with something applied to a surface, in a way that is overdone or tawdry.
- To soil; contaminate; pollute.
- Synonyms To bedaub, begrime.
- To tarnish, sully.
- noun The soft, semi-fluid mud of calcium sulphate left in the generators when whiting and sulphuric acid were used to produce carbon-dioxid gas in the manufacture of aërated waters.
- noun In bacteriology, a preparation of bacteria for microscopical examination made by smearing the organisms upon a slide or cover-glass. Also called
spread . Seeculture . - To give a gloss to (pottery or stoneware) without glazing, as by putting a volatile flux or glazing preparation in the kiln or in the saggar with the ware. See
smearglaze andsmearing .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To overspread with anything unctuous, viscous, or adhesive; to daub.
- transitive verb To soil in any way; to contaminate; to pollute; to stain morally.
- transitive verb To smudge, blur, or render indistinct (writing, pictures, etc.).
- transitive verb to vilify (a person); to damage (a person's reputation), especially falsely or by unfair innuendo, and with malicious intent.
- noun A fat, oily substance; oinment.
- noun Hence, a spot made by, or as by, an unctuous or adhesive substance; a blot or blotch; a daub; a stain.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To spread (a substance, especially one that colours or is dirty) across a surface by rubbing.
- verb transitive To have a substance smeared on (a surface).
- verb transitive To damage someone's reputation by slandering, misrepresenting, or otherwise making false accusations about an individual, their statements, or their actions.
- verb intransitive To become spread by smearing.
- noun A mark made by smearing.
- noun medicine A
Pap smear . - noun A false
attack .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb cover (a surface) by smearing (a substance) over it
- verb make a smudge on; soil by smudging
- noun a blemish made by dirt
- verb charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
- verb stain by smearing or daubing with a dirty substance
- noun slanderous defamation
- noun an act that brings discredit to the person who does it
- noun a thin tissue or blood sample spread on a glass slide and stained for cytologic examination and diagnosis under a microscope
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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More like “The smear starts here, constantly recited without any evidence, and when I am refuted, I call the watchdogs ‘vile’ and ’smear machines’ to motivate my braindead viewers/listeners to do what I want them to do.”
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And the first one we've performed here is what we term smear negative.
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Putin said he decided to stay away because of what he called a smear campaign against FIFA voters that created doubts about the decision even before it was made.
World Cup Bid Down To The Wire: Global Leaders, Celebrities Make Their Final Pitch AP 2010
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Putin said he decided to stay away because of what he called a smear campaign against FIFA voters that created doubts about the decision even before it was made.
World Cup Bid Down To The Wire: Global Leaders, Celebrities Make Their Final Pitch AP 2010
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Putin said he decided to stay away because of what he called a smear campaign against FIFA voters that created doubts about the decision even before it was made.
World Cup Bid Down To The Wire: Global Leaders, Celebrities Make Their Final Pitch AP 2010
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Rush Limbaugh now selling what he calls a smear letter from the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for more than $2 million.
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Plus, Rush Limbaugh auctioning off what he calls a smear letter from the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid.
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This week Regan hit News Corp. with a $100 million lawsuit over what she calls a smear campaign and she makes one particularly explosive charge.
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They want an apology from the Roman Catholic leader for what they call a smear character assassination of the Prophet Mohammed and a smear campaign.
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She ran Michael Dukakis 'campaign, deploring this late-minute what she call smear and insisting "The L.A. Times" apologize.
GHibbs commented on the word smear
My adjectival use: 'They often use a smear campaign to discredit a politician.'
October 10, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word smear
"In sugar manufacturing, the technical term for fermentation."
--Cent. Dict.
October 2, 2012