smear

1. (transitive) To spread (a substance, especially one that colours or is dirty) across a surface by rubbing.Examples: "The artist smeared paint over the canvas in broad strokes."; "In general, all bodies whose surfaces are even will […] stick to each other, and if a liquid be smeared over either surface, their cohesion will be still the stronger."; "Then again these figures take no account of the thousands of beggars who travel free in India. Many of these are religious "Sadhus", dressed often in nothing but a loin-cloth, or even less, and their bodies smeared with ashes. A large number of these men are nothing but impostors, but the Hindu railway staff usually are afraid to interfere with them."Synonyms: apply, daub, plaster, spreadtransitive

2. (transitive) To cover (a surface with a layer of some substance) by rubbing.Examples: "She smeared her lips with lipstick."; "Why did you bring these daggers from the place? They must lie there: go carry them; and smear The sleepy grooms with blood."; "[…] a Vessel of huge bulk, Measur’d by Cubit, length, & breadth, and highth, Smeard round with Pitch,"Synonyms: bedaub, coat, cover, daub, layer, plastertransitive

3. (transitive) To make something dirty.Examples: "A man may bee smeared or grimed, and euerie man shall laugh at him, and yet he himselfe shall not perceiue it a whit."; "[…] she returned, carrying Johnnie, his face all smeared with eating,"; "His hands and forearms, his face, his good shirt and suit are smeared from the dustbins and climbing the fence,"Synonyms: besmirch, dirty, soil, sullytransitive

4. (transitive) (of a substance, etc.) To make a surface dirty by covering it.Examples: "a pallor which was accentuated by the blood which smeared her lips and cheeks and chin"; "a rust spot smearing the back of the sink"; "Wet leaves smeared the pavement."transitive

5. (transitive, derogatory) To damage someone's reputation by slandering, misrepresenting, or otherwise making false accusations about them, their statements, or their actions.Examples: "The opposition party attempted to smear the candidate by spreading incorrect and unverifiable rumors about their personal behavior."; "May everlasting shame consume The memory of those who tried To befoul and smear th’ exalted name Of one who spurned them in his pride."; "1976, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, “J.M.—A Writer’s Tribute” in Writers in Politics, London: Heinemann, 1981, p. 82, 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."Synonyms: badmouth, besmirch, defame, sully, vilifyderogatorytransitive

6. (transitive) To cause (something) to be messy or not clear by rubbing and spreading it.Examples: "When she had entered two or three laborious items in the account-book, Jip would walk over the page, wagging his tail, and smear them all out."; "Then there are four lines smeared so that I can only read went 5 days ago."; "Bird droppings, smeared by the strokes of rain and dried by the heat, streaked its sides."Synonyms: blur, smudgetransitive