besmear

English

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”).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)

Verb

besmear (third-person singular simple present besmears, present participle besmearing, simple past and past participle besmeared)

1. (transitive) To smear over, to smear all over, to daub.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene i:

     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.

   • 1734, William Stukeley, Of the Gout, page 57:

     […] 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. (transitive) To damage the reputation of, to tarnish, to sully.
   • 2012 January 26, Mike Allen Jim Vandehei, “Drudge, conservative media criticize Newt Gingrich”, in Politico‎^[1]:

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

Derived terms

• besmearer

 

Translations

to smear over, sully

• Bulgarian: нацапвам (bg) (nacapvam), измърсявам (bg) (izmǎrsjavam), оплесквам (bg) (opleskvam), размазвам (bg) (razmazvam)
• German: beschmieren (de), verschmieren (de), beschmutzen (de)
• Latin: linō

Anagrams

• Beamers, Bermeas, beamers