Link Centre Dictionary

smear

UK/smɪə(ɹ)/ US/smiɚ/ fairly common
noun (4) verb (4)

noun

1.
2.
3.

a blemish made by dirt

  • “he had a smudge on his cheek”
Synonyms
4.

an act that brings discredit to the person who does it

  • “he made a huge blot on his copybook”
Synonyms

verb

1.

stain by smearing or daubing with a dirty substance

2.

make a smudge on; soil by smudging

Synonyms
3.

cover (a surface) by smearing (a substance) over it

  • “smear the wall with paint”
  • “daub the ceiling with plaster”
Synonyms
4.

charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone

  • “The journalists have defamed me!”
  • “The article in the paper sullied my reputation”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English smeren, smerien, from Old English smerian, smyrian, smierwan (“to anoint or rub with grease, oil, etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *smirwijan, from Proto-Germanic *smirwijaną. Doublet of schmear. Cognate with Saterland Frisian smeere, Dutch smeren (“to smear, lubricate”), Low German smeren, German schmieren (“to smear, lubricate”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål smøre (“to lubricate”), Norwegian Nynorsk smørja (“to lubricate”), Swedish smörja (“to grease”), Faroese and Icelandic smyrja.

Phrases

  • blood smear
  • cervical smear
  • leap smear
  • marrow smear
  • pap smear
  • Papanicolaou smear
  • smear campaign
  • smear case
  • smear the queer

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.