smear

== English == === Etymology === 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. === Pronunciation === (UK) enPR: smî(r), IPA(key): /smɪə(ɹ)/ (US) enPR: smîr, IPA(key): /smiɚ/, IPA(key): /smɪɚ/ Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ) === Verb === smear (third-person singular simple present smears, present participle smearing, simple past and past participle smeared) (transitive) To spread (a substance, especially one that colours or is dirty) across a surface by rubbing. Synonyms: apply, daub, plaster, spread (transitive) To cover (a surface with a layer of some substance) by rubbing. Synonyms: bedaub, coat, cover, daub, layer, plaster (transitive) To make something dirty. Synonyms: besmirch, dirty, soil, sully; see also Thesaurus:dirty (transitive) (of a substance, etc.) To make a surface dirty by covering it. (transitive, derogatory) To damage someone's reputation by slandering, misrepresenting, or otherwise making false accusations about them, their statements, or their actions. Synonyms: badmouth, besmirch, defame, sully, vilify; see also Thesaurus:defame 1976, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, “J.M.—A Writer’s Tribute” in Writers in Politics, London: Heinemann, 1981, p. 82,[8] The imperialist foreigners then in the offices of the Nation Newspapers would not allow the African staff to review it. They handled it themselves in order to smear the book and its author and his celebration of Mau Mau resistance. (transitive) To cause (something) to be messy or not clear by rubbing and spreading it. Synonyms: blur, smudge (intransitive) To become messy or not clear by being spread. Synonym: smudge (transitive) To write or draw (something) by spreading a substance on a surface. (transitive) To cause (something) to be a particular colour by covering with a substance. (transitive) To rub (a body part, etc.) across a surface. (transitive) To attempt to remove (a substance) from a surface by rubbing. 1960, Katherine Anne Porter, “Holiday” in Douglas and Sylvia Angus (eds.), Contemporary American Short Stories, New York: Ballantine, 1983, p. 323,[21] […] she stood and shook with silent crying, smearing away her tears with the open palm of her hand. (climbing) To climb without using footholds, using the friction from the shoe to stay on the wall. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Noun === smear (countable and uncountable, plural smears) A mark made by smearing. Synonym: streak (cooking) A presentation of a sauce, purée or other food item, which is placed in a dollop and spread across the plate. Synonym: swoosh (countable, uncountable) A false or unsupported, malicious statement intended to injure a person's reputation. Synonyms: calumny, slander, slur, mudslinging (biology) A preparation to be examined under a microscope, made by spreading a thin layer of a substance (such as blood, bacterial culture) on a slide. Synonym: squash (medicine) A Pap smear (screening test for cervical cancer). Synonyms: cervical smear, Pap test (radio, television, uncountable) Any of various forms of distortion that make a signal harder to see or hear. (climbing) A maneuver in which a shoe is placed onto a holdless rock, and the friction from the shoe keeps it in contact with the rock. (music) A rough glissando in jazz music. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === === Anagrams === marse, reams, Mears, maser, mears, Seram, Armes, mares, MASER, rames, Mares, Marse