D defs.my
Menu ☰
Entry 6 senses · 2 variants Webster, 1913

Smear

/(smēr)/ · IPA /smiɚ/
01 v. t. To overspread with anything unctuous, viscous, or adhesive; to daub; as, to smear anything with oil.
imp. & p. p. Smeared; p. pr. & vb. n. Smearing
  1. 1.
    To overspread with anything unctuous, viscous, or adhesive; to daub; as, to smear anything with oil.
  2. 2.
    To soil in any way; to contaminate; to pollute; to stain morally; as, to be smeared with infamy.
  3. 3.
    To smudge, blur, or render indistinct (writing, pictures, etc.).
  4. 4.
    to vilify (a person); to damage (a person's reputation), especially falsely or by unfair innuendo, and with malicious intent.
02 n. A fat, oily substance; oinment.
  1. 1.
    A fat, oily substance; oinment.
  2. 2.
    Hence, a spot made by, or as by, an unctuous or adhesive substance; a blot or blotch; a daub; a stain.
    “Slow broke the morn, All damp and rolling vapor, with no sun, But in its place a moving smear of light.” — Alexander Smith.