smear

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. Cognate with Saterland Frisian smeere, Dutch smeren, Low German smeren, German schmieren.

verb

1. (transitive) To spread (a substance, especially one that colours or is dirty) across a surface by rubbing.
   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. 1776, Oliver Goldsmith, chapter 5, in A Survey of Experimental Philosophy, London: T. Carnan and F. Newbery, page 74
   Then you would kneel and smear a handful of pomade through my hair, comb it over. 2019, Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, New York: Penguin
2. (transitive) To cover (a surface with a layer of some substance) by rubbing.
   She smeared her lips with lipstick.
   […] it’s better if we admit to disliking and hating them, than if we try to smear our feelings over with pseudo-liberal sentimentality. 1964, Christopher Isherwood, A Single Man, London: Vintage, published 2010, page 53
3. (transitive) To make something dirty.
   A man may bee smeared or grimed, and euerie man shall laugh at him, and yet he himselfe shall not perceiue it a whit. 1583, Arthur Golding, transl., The Sermons of M. John Calvin upon the Fifth Book of Moses called Deuteronomie, London: George Bishop, Sermon 41, p. 246
   […] she returned, carrying Johnnie, his face all smeared with eating, 1855, Elizabeth Gaskell, chapter 11, in North and South, volume 2, London: Chapman and Hall, page 147
   His hands and forearms, his face, his good shirt and suit are smeared from the dustbins and climbing the fence, 2016, Ali Smith, chapter 2, in Autumn, Penguin, published 2017
4. (transitive) (of a substance, etc.) To make a surface dirty by covering it.
   a rust spot smearing the back of the sink 1982, Anne Tyler, chapter 6, in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, New York: Knopf, published 1989, page 168
5. (transitive) To damage someone's reputation by slandering, misrepresenting, or otherwise making false accusations about them, their statements, or their actions.
   The opposition party attempted to smear the candidate by spreading incorrect and unverifiable rumors about their personal behavior.
   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.
   They’ll smear him on the country’s dial-up bulletin boards as the worst traitor. 2018, Richard Powers, “Neelay Mehta”, in The Overstory, New York: Norton
6. (transitive) To cause (something) to be messy or not clear by rubbing and spreading it.
   Then there are four lines smeared so that I can only read went 5 days ago. 1954, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring, New York: Ballantine, published 1973, Book 2, Chapter 5, p. 419
   Bird droppings, smeared by the strokes of rain and dried by the heat, streaked its sides. 2007, Tan Twan Eng, The Gift of Rain, New York: Weinstein Books, Book 1, Chapter 5, p. 56
7. (intransitive) To become messy or not clear by being spread.
   The paint is still wet — don't touch it or it will smear.
8. (transitive) To write or draw (something) by spreading a substance on a surface.
   ciphers smeared on the windows of condemned shops 1970, Saul Bellow, chapter 2, in Mr. Sammler’s Planet, New York: Fawcett, published 1971, page 84
   smear crude words on the walls in the victim’s own blood as evidence of his final cult-related frenzy 1985, Don DeLillo, White Noise, Penguin, Part 3, Chapter 39, p. 311
   […] she brought a red daubed finger up to my cheek & began to smear markings on my face. 2001, Richard Flanagan, “The Freshwater Crayfish”, in Gould’s Book of Fish, New York: Grove Press, published 2002
9. (transitive) To cause (something) to be a particular colour by covering with a substance.
   small wooden dolls smeared red as though with blood 1864, Richard F. Burton, chapter 3, in A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome,, volume 1, London: Tinsley Brothers, page 43
   the fences and outhouses built of barrel-staves and parts of boxes, all, if I am fortunate, smeared a bluish green 1917, William Carlos Williams, “Pastoral”, in Al Que Quiere!, Boston: The Four Seas Company, page 15
   They paid the tonga-wallah double his regular fare and smeared his forehead pink and that of his horse green for good measure. 1993, Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy, Penguin, published 1994, Chapter 2.1, p. 73
10. (transitive) To rub (a body part, etc.) across a surface.
    With the lazy appetite of a calf mooning over a salt lick, he smeared his sizable nose against her face, 1979, William Styron, chapter 3, in Sophie’s Choice, New York: Random House, page 58
    […] what was it with all those village people who could not stand on their feet without reaching out to smear their palm on a wall? 2013, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, chapter 6, in Americanah, New York: Knopf, page 74
11. (transitive) To attempt to remove (a substance) from a surface by rubbing.
    The boatman rowed short and hard […], only pausing at moments swiftly to smear the sweat from his face with an old rag he kept on the bench beside him. 1926, D. H. Lawrence, chapter 5, in The Plumed Serpent, London: Heinemann, published 1955, page 85
    1960, Katherine Anne Porter, “Holiday” in Douglas and Sylvia Angus (eds.), Contemporary American Short Stories, New York: Ballantine, 1983, p. 323, […] she stood and shook with silent crying, smearing away her tears with the open palm of her hand.
12. (climbing) To climb without using footholds, using the friction from the shoe to stay on the wall.

noun

1. A mark made by smearing.
   This detergent cleans windows without leaving smears.
   A smear of decisive lead-coloured paint had been laid on to obliterate Henchard’s name, though its letters dimly loomed through like ships in a fog. 1886, Thomas Hardy, chapter 8, in The Mayor of Casterbridge, volume 2, London: Smith, Elder, page 108
   Vast avalanches had left their dirty smears on the opposing slopes, 1933, Robert Byron, First Russia, Then Tibet, London: Macmillan, Part 2, Chapter 8
   she bought a couple of rolls filled with a thin smear of potted meat for her breakfast 1952, Nevil Shute, chapter 2, in The Far Country, London: Heinemann
   I could see the roofs of the town on the horizon, and farther off and higher up, a tiny silver ship propped motionless on a smear of pale sea. 2005, John Banville, The Sea, London: Picador, Part 2, p. 228
2. (countable, uncountable) A false or unsupported, malicious statement intended to injure a person's reputation.
   I should have held him quite beneath my Notice, as is all he utters, but that the Appetite of Slander, in many, is too predominant; and, ’tis possible, when the filthiest Fellow throws a Profusion of Dirt, some may chance to stick, if not timely thrown off; I shall endeavour therefore, to wipe away the sooty Smears of this Chimney-sweeper, by relating a simple Fact, which will, I flatter myself, amply confute the malicious Tales of this unprovoked, rancorous Mortal: 1752, Theophilus Cibber, A Lick at a Liar, London: R. Griffiths, page 7
3. (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.
4. (medicine) A Pap smear (screening test for cervical cancer).
   I'm going to the doctor's this afternoon for a smear.
5. (radio, television, uncountable) Any of various forms of distortion that make a signal harder to see or hear.
   In television terms, a certain amount of smear, ringing, and anticipatory overshoot are indigenous to VSB transmission. 1954, Radio & Television News: Radio-electronic engineering section
   Results show the reduction in intelligibility produced by changing the filter condition was much greater than reductions caused by altering smear duration. 1972, Scientific and Technical Aerospace Reports
6. (climbing) A maneuver in which the shoe is placed onto the holdless rock, and the friction from the shoe keeps it in contact
7. (music) A rough glissando in jazz music.