What does "smear" mean?
Smear: To soil in any way; to contaminate; to pollute; to stain morally; as, to be smeared with infamy. Shak.
Additional senses
- 2.A fat, oily substance; oinment. Johnson.
- 3.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.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00