smear

play

noun \ ˈsmir \

Definition of smear

1 a :a viscous or sticky substance

b :a spot made by or as if by an unctuous or adhesive substance

2 :material smeared on a surface (as of a microscopic slide); also :a preparation made by smearing material on a surface

a vaginal smear

3 :a usually unsubstantiated charge or accusation against a person or organization —often used attributively

a smear campaign

a smear job

See smear defined for English-language learners

See smear defined for kids

Examples of smear in a Sentence

The blood smear revealed malaria.

Recent Examples of smear from the Web

A Pap smear is a diagnostic procedure that’s used to screen for cervical cancer in women.

— korin miller, SELF, "Pap Smear Guidelines: Here’s How Often You Actually Need a Pap Smear," 30 Aug. 2017
This, beyond all the smears and character assassinations, is West’s biggest lie.

— elliot kaufman, National Review, "When Every Republican Is a Crypto-Nazi," 21 Aug. 2017
And a smear of basil-arugula pesto underpins a mélange of squash, snap peas, and tomatoes roasted to candylike intensity.

— laura regensdorf, Vogue, "3 Best-of-Summer Vegetarian Recipes From the Chicest New Café in L.A.," 28 July 2017
The forest mushroom bruschetta has a smear of ricotta and a squidge of balsamic, and the mushrooms are plump and meaty.

— aimee levitt, Chicago Reader, "Can the Merchandise Mart become a dining destination?," 24 July 2017
Give the inside of each piece of bread a thin smear of mayo.

— paula forbes, GQ, "How to Bring Snacks to The Beach Without Eating Sand," 23 July 2017
Nutt, the head coach from 2008-2011, says Freeze and Bjork ran a smear campaign against him by telling reporters Nutt was to blame for the violations.

— blair kerkhoff, kansascity, "Lawsuit, NCAA probe may change narrative of Ole Miss’ Hugh Freeze," 13 July 2017
A day after former Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt accused the school—and Freeze specifically—of running a smear campaign against him to save the 2016 recruiting class, Freeze could do neither his school nor himself any favors by lashing out at Nutt.

— andy staples, SI.com, "Facing NCAA limbo, Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss should still be can't-miss TV this fall," 13 July 2017
Today Judge Beaudet dismissed the Mandels’ declaratory relief claim, and struck from their cross-complaint over eighty paragraphs of allegations containing frivolous smears against Johnny Depp, which constituted their ‘

— lindsay kimble, PEOPLE.com, "Johnny Depp's Spending Habits Not Currently Relevant to Fraud Claims Against Him by Former Business Managers, Judge Rules," 10 July 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'smear.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of smear

Middle English smere, from Old English smeoru; akin to Old High German smero grease and probably to Old Irish smiur marrow

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

smear

verb

Definition of smear

transitive verb

1 a :to overspread with something unctuous, viscous, or adhesive :daub

smeared the paper with glue

b :to spread over a surface

2 a :to stain, smudge, or dirty by or as if by smearing

b :sully, besmirch; specifically :to vilify especially by secretly and maliciously spreading grave charges and imputations

3 :to obliterate, obscure, blur, blend, wipe out, or defeat by or as if by smearing

—

smearer

noun

See smear defined for English-language learners

Examples of smear in a Sentence

The children smeared the window with fingerprints.
She smeared jam on her toast.
Butter was smeared all over the counter.
Her mascara smeared when she cried.

Recent Examples of smear from the Web

Shania Twain on Working Out, Drinking Smoothies, and Smearing Sugar on Her Face How the Canadian diva does wellness.

— emilia petrarca, The Cut, "Everlane’s Next Phase of Wardrobe Domination: Jeans," 23 Aug. 2017
This darker, viscous blood is made for smearing (á la the shower curtain in Psycho).

— gabriella vigoreaux, Good Housekeeping, "How to Make Fake Blood for Halloween," 23 Aug. 2017
Idaho Falls Rep. Bryan Zollinger took to Facebook on Friday, re-posting a conspiracy theory suggesting that last weekend’s events in Charlottesville, Va., could have been an inside job orchestrated to smear President Donald Trump.

— bryan clark, idahostatesman, "East Idaho rep. says it's 'plausible' Obama staged Charlottesville riots," 19 Aug. 2017
What bothers us is that elite opinion’s determination to conceal the presence of anti-fa at last weekend’s bloody debacle — the better to smear the American Right with the alt-right — is just phase one.

— andrew c. mccarthy, National Review, "On Charlottesville, Trump, and Anti-Americanism," 19 Aug. 2017
Still using your hands, turn eggplant and squash slices over and smear other side with 2 Tbsp. oil.

— claire saffitz, Bon Appetit, "Cheesy Zucchini-Eggplant Bake," 7 Aug. 2017
Still, Moore adds to the stench of suspensions that smeared the Cowboys of late.

— clarence e. hill jr., star-telegram, "Damontre Moore adds to Cowboys’ troubles, suspended for 2 games," 28 July 2017
Trump has also made numerous attempts to smear Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

— christina coleman, Essence.com, "There's A Reason Donald Trump Is Calling AG Jeff Sessions 'Weak' In Public," 25 July 2017
A few weeks ago, Hayek was championing smearing fruit on your skin at a press event for Juice Generation’s Blend-It-Yourself, a new line of smoothies — four of which double as face masks.

— kathleen hou, The Cut, "If Salma Hayek Tells You to Put a Smoothie on Your Face, Do It," 18 July 2017

First Known Use of smear

before 12th century

smear Synonyms

Synonyms

anoint, bedaub, besmear, daub

Related Words

coat, paint, plaster; grease, oil; gum, lard, pitch, tar; befoul, begrime, bemire, besmirch, blacken, dirty, foul, gaum [dialect], grime, mire, muck, muddy, smirch, smudge, soil, stain, sully

Near Antonyms

exalt, glorify, honor; acclaim, applaud, commend, praise; esteem, respect; admire, regard; adore, revere, venerate, worship

SMEAR Defined for English Language Learners

smear

play

noun

Definition of smear for English Language Learners

: a dirty mark, spot, streak, etc., made by touching or rubbing something
medical : a very small sample of something (such as skin or blood) that someone examines with a microscope
: an untrue story about a person that is meant to hurt that person's reputation

smear

verb

Definition of smear for English Language Learners

: to make (something) dirty by rubbing it with something else
: to spread (something) over a surface
: to spread or drip in an untidy way

SMEAR Defined for Kids

smear

play

verb \ ˈsmir \

Definition of smear for Students

smeared; smearing

1 :to spread or soil with something oily or sticky

So Bean carefully smeared white all over Ivy's face except her lips.
—Annie Barrows, Ivy {ampersand} Bean

2 :to spread over a surface

Her makeup smeared.

3 :to harm the reputation of (someone) with false statements

smear

noun

Definition of smear for Students

:a spot or streak made by or as if by an oily or sticky substance :smudge

Medical Dictionary

smear

play

noun \ ˈsmi(ə)r \

medical Definition of smear

:material spread on a surface (as of a microscopic slide); also :a preparation made by spreading material on a surface — see pap smear, vaginal smear

smear

transitive verb

medical Definition of smear

:to prepare as a smear for microscopic examination :make a smear of

Learn More about smear

See words that rhyme with smear Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for smear Spanish Central: Translation of smear Nglish: Translation of smear for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of smear for Arabic speakers

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smear

Definition of smear

From the M-W Editors

Examples of smear in a Sentence

Recent Examples of smear from the Web

Origin and Etymology of smear

smear

Definition of smear

smearer

Examples of smear in a Sentence

Recent Examples of smear from the Web

First Known Use of smear

smear Synonyms

Synonyms

Related Words

Near Antonyms

Phrases Related to SMEAR

Related Phrases

SMEAR Defined for English Language Learners

smear

Definition of smear for English Language Learners

smear

Definition of smear for English Language Learners

SMEAR Defined for Kids

smear

Definition of smear for Students

smear

Definition of smear for Students

Medical Dictionary

smear

medical Definition of smear

smear

medical Definition of smear

Learn More about smear

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