besully

English

Etymology

From Middle English bisulien, from Old English besylian (“to soil, stain”), equivalent to be- +‎ sully.

Verb

besully (third-person singular simple present besullies, present participle besullying, simple past and past participle besullied)

1. (transitive) To make sullied or soiled; defile
   • 1865, Robert Gillan, The Decalogue: a Series of Discourses on the Ten Commandments:

     Let us avoid them as we would those emissaries of Satan whose glory is to wither piety, to blot out godliness from the ... who would extinguish the “Light of the Week”—who would besully the “Pearl of Days”— […]

Synonyms

• blemish