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to smear all over; bedaub.
to sully; defile; soil:
to besmear someone’s reputation.
historical examples

madame boche, in her turn, caught sight of lantier and uttered a faint cry without ceasing to besmear her face with her tears.
l’-ssommoir emile zola

they also besmear their bodies with grease and coloured earths.
the natural history of the varieties of man robert gordon latham

they make little fires during the day, sleeping at night among the warm ashes, with which they besmear their bodies.
a general history and collection of voyages and travels, volume ix. robert kerr

in all history it has been shown that he who seeks to besmear others usually leaves the greatest amount of mud on himself.
my attainment of the pole frederick a. cook

some parts they besmear with an earth so pure and resplendent, that it resembles painting and colours.
tacitus on germany tacitus

when serpents sting, the only remedy is to kill the serpent, and besmear the wound with the fat.
letters of samuel taylor coleridge, vol. i (of 2) samuel taylor coleridge

his intensity of loathing leads him to besmear his antagonists with filth.
swift leslie stephen

the reverse of besmear is to rub off; hence to obliterate means to rub out, to erase.
orthography elmer w. cavins

letter (from l. linere, to besmear); so called because smeared on parchment and not cut on wood.
orthography elmer w. cavins

the colours with which they besmear the bodies of both s-xes possibly date from the same common origin.
a complete account of the settlement at port jackson watkin tench

verb (transitive)
to smear over; daub
to sully; defile (often in the phrase besmear (a person’s) reputation)
v.

old english bismierwan, besmyrwan (west saxon), besmerwan (anglian); see be- + smear (v.). related: besmeared; besmearing.