| 释义 |
▪ I. smear, n.|smɪə(r)|
Forms: 1 smeoru, -o, smeru, -o, -a, 3–5 smere (4 smer), 7 smeer, 6–7 smeare, 8– smear (9 techn. smeir).
[In sense 1 common Teutonic: OE. smeoru, smeru, etc., = OFris. smere (EFris. smiri, smēr, NFris. smēr, smör, WFris. smoar), MDu. smere, smeer (Du. smeer), and smare, smaer, OS. smero (MLG. smere, smer), OHG. smero, smer (MHG. smer, G. schmer) fat, grease, ON. smjǫr (Icel. smjer, Sw. smör, Da. and Norw. smør) butter:—OTeut. *smerwa neut. The stem smer-, with different suffix, is represented in Goth. by smairþr neut., fat. Cognate forms outside of Teut. are Lith. smarsas fat, OIr. smir (Gael. smior) marrow, and perh. Gr. µύρον ointment. The later senses are mainly, if not entirely, f. the vb., like G. schmiere.
In OE. the w of the stem appears regularly in the genitive and dative smeor(u)wes, -we, smer(e)wes, -we, etc.]
†1.
a. Fat, grease, lard; ointment. Obs.
c725Corpus Gl. U 257 Unguentum, smeoru. c825Vesp. Ps. xvi. 10 Smeoru his [hie] bilucun. c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 74 Cnuciᵹe wið eald smeoru. Ibid. II. 68 Heorotes smera oþþe gate oþ þe gose. c1200Ormin 13244 Nohht þurrh nan eorþliȝ smere, acc all þurrh Haliȝ Gastess sallfe. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1573 In heuene deu, and erðes smere, [Esau] Gatte him bliscing. c1330Arth. & Merl. 1306 (Kölbing), Newe schon þat man haþ bouȝt,..And smere, to smere hem al about. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. vii. (Tollem. MS.), Þe fatnesse þerof..is mad white and turnid in to talowe and smere. 1447O. Bokenham Lyvys Seyntys (Roxb.) 78 Full of pyke rosen oyle and smere. c1450M.E. Med. Bk. (Heinrich) 201 Tak þe crotyng of a goot, & old smere of a red swyn. 1611Cotgr., Oing, (Hogs) grease, or seame; smeare. 1648Hexham ii, Smeeren,..to Rub with Grease or Smeare.
†b. A ‘company’ of curriers. Obs.
c1476in Hors, Shepe, & Ghoos (Roxb.) 4 iv b, A Smere of coryers. 1486Bk. St. Albans f vj b, A Smere of Coryouris.
†2. Smeared or dirty condition. Obs.—1
1600Hosp. Incurable Fooles 79 Neither was he like a tinker in any thing, but only the smeare and collour of his beard.
3. a. A mark, smudge, or stain made by smearing, or suggestive of this; a layer or patch of some substance applied by smearing.
1611Cotgrave, Macheure, a blacke..smeare. 1793Holcroft tr. Lavater's Physiogr. xliv. 225, I see through his disguise, as I should the hand of a great master through the smear of varnish. 1859Reeve Brittany 50 As the figures were moving, no trace of them is seen [in the stereograph], except a light smear along the shops. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. iii, Roof, and walls, and floor, alike abounding in old smears of flour, red-lead, and damp. 1888Rutley Rock-forming Min. 25 The smears of balsam being ultimately cleaned off with a piece of rag or silk moistened with benzol.
fig.1858Carlyle Fredk. Gt. viii. iv. (1872) III. 20 Here is the unprecise but indubitable fact, as the Prussian Dryasdust has left us his smear of it.
b. A small quantity of some substance prepared for microscopical investigation by being smeared upon a slide, esp. a sample of human or other cells obtained without surgery; vaginal smear, a smear of cells obtained from the vagina, studied to detect cervical cancer of the womb.
1903Med. Record 7 Feb. 209 Gonococci were demonstrated..by smears only. 1904Brit. Med. Jrnl. Sept. 599 A smear from the red marrow in the case appeared identical in character with the picture of the blood film. 1917Stockard & Papanicolaou in Amer. Jrnl. Anat. XXII. 227 In order to examine the vagina [of a guinea-pig] thoroughly we have introduced a small nasal speculum which facilitates clear view of the interior and a smear is made of any fluid that may be present. Ibid., A study of the vaginal smears from guinea-pigs. 1920Proc. Nat. Conf. Social Work 1919 58 Dr. Knight's plan of requiring a smear [for the detection of venereal disease] from every female child coming under their care would seem a wise precaution. 1925Jrnl. Amer. Med. Assoc. 8 May 1422/2 The guinea-pig is a particularly suitable animal for such an investigation, on account of the regularity of its estrual cycle. The use of vaginal smear examinations makes it possible to detect the return of estrus in a very exact way. 1928G. N. Papanicolaou in 3rd Race Betterment Conf. 530 In a case of benign tumor everything you find in a vaginal smear is more or less normal... In contrast to this, in..cases..of malignant tumors, there are some definite characteristic changes. 1943― Diagnosis Uterine Cancer vi. 34 Vaginal smears made after the operation continued to show the carcinoma cells in considerable numbers. 1958Cervical smear [see Papanicolaou]. 1966Listener 4 Aug. 151/1 Cervical smear centres for the early diagnosis of womb cancer..have..been outstandingly successful. 1969, etc. [see Pap n.4]. 1975Nature 9 Oct. 480/1 The presence of sperm cells in vaginal smears taken [from rats] the following morning was taken as positive indication of pregnancy.
c. A slanderous or defamatory remark; an attempt to defame by slander. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1943Sun (Baltimore) 22 Oct. 8/3 ‘This is an outright smear,’ Stromberg asserted. 1953E. Simon Past Masters iv. v. 256 Our only hope is to get some sort of official enquiry..to scotch all the smears. 1958Spectator 15 Aug. 225/2, I would have expected from Mr. Lehmann not that implied smear but approving pats on both our heads. 1959Listener 25 June 1115/1, I became aware of a gentle campaign of smear. 1977E. Ambler Send no More Roses x. 246 There is the smear, and I'm the subject of it.
†4. slang. A painter; a plasterer. Obs.
c1700Street Robberies Consider'd, Smeer, a painter. 1725New Cant. Dict., Smear, a Painter, a Plaisterer, &c. 1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Smear, a plaisterer.
5. a. An application for smearing sheep.
1802C. Findlater Agric. Surv. Peebles 190 note, He proposes a smear composed of butter, train oil, and turpentine. 1870G. Armatage Every Man his own Cattle Doctor 559 Arsenical dips and mercurial smears.
b. A product in the making of sugar.
1843G. R. Porter Sugar Cane (ed. 2) 220 The wet heads are cut off and put into a large mould; these are called bastard heading or smear.
c. Fishing. (See quot.)
1848Johns Week at Lizard 241 Pollack are often attracted round the boat by what the fishermen call ‘smear’, that is, offal of fish and bilge-water, which they occasionally throw overboard.
d. Pottery. A mixture used for glazing.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2220/1 Smeir, a semi-glaze on pottery; common salt added to an earthenware glaze. 1884C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts Ser. iii. 221/1 ‘Smears’ and ‘flows’ are glazes applied by volatilization. 1897[see semi-glaze s.v. semi- 7 j].
6. In Jazz, a short glissando; a slurring or sliding effect produced by a brass instrument, esp. a trombone.
1926[see portamento]. 1944New Yorker 1 July 29/2 Someone may advocate extending a note or cutting it off. The sax section may want to put an additional smear on it. 1959M. T. Williams Art of Jazz (1960) iv. 36 Those devices that gave..the illusion of smear and roughness to his tone.
7. attrib. and Comb., as (sense 1) † smear-gavel (see gavel n.1), smear-monger; (sense 3 c) smear document, smear interview, smear job, smear journalism, smear merchant, smear-monger, smear process, smear sheet, smear story; (sense 4 b) smear preparation; smear campaign, a plan to discredit someone or something, or to destroy a reputation, by means of smears; † smear-dock, Sc. -docken, English Mercury; † smear-gelt (see quot.); smear-glaze, = 5 d; hence smear-glazed adj.; † smear-nep, bryony; smear-shading, a method of shading used in glass-painting; so smear-shadow; smear tactics, the tactics used in a smear campaign; smear test, a test for cancer of the womb made by microscopic examination of a smear (see sense 3 b); smear-word, a word which in spite of its literal meaning is used to imply something derogatory.
1938Sun (Baltimore) 7 May 1/5 He called the Lobby Committee ‘a snooping committee’ which was engaged in ‘a smear campaign’, a campaign of ‘terror and intimidation’ against newspapers and magazines which dare to criticize activities of the New Deal. 1978N. Freeling Night Lords vii. 31 We'll get accused of a smear campaign against Rolls-Royce cars.
c1325Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 162 Mercurial, smerowo[r]t (smerdocke).
1775Tippermalluch Receipts 12 (Jam.), Rub the person over with the juice of Allgood (called in Latin Bonus Henricus, others call it the Smear-docken).
1940Sun (Baltimore) 18 Oct. 22/6 This was the pamphlet attacked by Republicans as a ‘smear document’. 1977M. Walker National Front vii. 183 Tyndall denied responsibility for the smear document.
13..Eng. Gilds (1870) 359 Euerych sellere of grece and of smere and of talwȝ shal..to þe kynge a peny, in þe name of smergauel.
1785Grose Dict. Vulgar T., Smear gelt, a bribe.
1893E. A. Barber Pottery & Porcelain of United States vi. 82 Glaze, which in the kiln would vaporize and form a slight deposit on the ware, technically known as ‘smear’ glaze. 1971L. A. Boger Dict. World Pottery & Porcelain 320/1 Smear glaze was a development following salt glaze and is frequently mistaken for it.
1963Times 26 Jan. 11/7 The delicately smear-glazed porcelain more usually associated with small Victorian statuary and so suggestive of marble that it was known as parian ware.
1960New Statesman 23 Jan. 96/1 But the elaborate smear interviews and paragraphs in Sydney were nobody's mistake, but just the boys obeying orders. 1970E. Ambler Intercom Conspiracy iii. 73 It was a smear job hashed up to discredit one or another of his clients' competitors.
1967Punch 8 Feb. 190/2 This touched the muddiest depths of smear journalism, full of cheap sneers and nasty innuendo.
1963Times 15 May 9/2 The finding on this point was a bitter disappointment to the smear merchants.
1297Placita coram Rege m. 11 (1897) 65 Johannes le Smeremongere. 1304in Cal. Pat. Rolls 32 Edw. I, 284 Ralph le Smermonger. 1967Punch 8 Feb. 190/2, I read with great satisfaction the editorial..on the smearmongers of the Press and other vehicles of opinion.
a1387Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.) 43 Viticella, smernepe.
1904Brit. Med. Jrnl. Sept. 602 Smear preparations were also made in order that the form of the individual cells might be more closely studied.
1958Times 26 Feb. 9/5 Mr Gaitskell's intention was, I imagine, to minimize the value of the report and rob it of its influence.., another application of the now well-known ‘smear’ process.
1847C. Winston Hints Glass Painting (1867) 284 A stipple shadow is..always more transparent than a smear shadow of equal depth.
1848― Glass Painting (1865) 80 The first and oldest kind of shading may be called Smear shading, and the second Stipple shading.
1951Observer 16 Dec. 7/4 He is instructed to dismiss five people..accused by a smear-sheet of Communist sympathies.
1947New Statesman 22 Nov. 404/3 The Garry Allighan affair has done great harm in confirming in the minds of thoughtless people the smear stories about politicians that are put about by people who are not thoughtless. 1955‘E. C. R. Lorac’ Ask Policeman v. 56 They didn't want the Sunday papers to write up Rosetta Towers as a smear story.
1945West Va. Rev. Nov. 40/1 In recent years there has developed in his country a group of press agents who have adopted ‘smear’ tactics. 1974Times 14 Feb. 22/3 In the old days they used to be called smear tactics but this year..mini-Watergates.
1950Consumer Rep. XV. 367/1 The smear test for uterine cancer is done by scraping tissue..from the rear of the vagina. 1977Spare Rib May 19/1 Yearly smear tests are important as they give early warning of a disease which takes 15 years to develop.
1938I. Goldberg Wonder of Words xv. 298 The term Bolshevik..becomes so encrusted with non-political significance that it loses any sharpness of outline..and grows into what has been called ‘a smear-word’—a word that takes on whatever emotional color the speaker may..desire. 1961Twentieth Cent. Jan. 87 ‘Philology’, that smear-word among students everywhere.
▪ II. smear, v.|smɪə(r)|
Forms: α. 1 smirian (smiran), 3 smirien, 4 smyrie. pa. tense 1, 3 smirede (1 -ide), 4 smired, smyrede. pa. pple. 3 i-smiret. β. 1 smyrian (-iᵹan), 1–3 smurien. pa. pple. 3 i-smured. γ. 1 smerian, 3 smeorie, 4 smerie; 3 smeren, 4–6 smere (4 smer), 6–7 smeere, Sc. smeir, 7 smeer; 6–7 smeare, 6– smear. pa. tense 1–4 smerede, 3–4 smered (5 -yd), 4 smerd. pa. pple. 2–3 i-, 2–4 y-smered (4 -smerd), 3, 6 smered (Sc. 6 smerit, smeiret).
[Common Teutonic: OE. smir-, smyr-, smerian (also smir-, smerwan), f. smeoru, smeru smear n., = OFris. *smera (EFris. smēre, smüri, NFris. smēr, smerri, smöre, WFris. smarre, † smerre), MDu. smeren, smieren, smaren (Du. smeren), MLG. smeren (schmärn, schmirn), OHG. smirwan (MHG. smirwen, smirn, G. schmieren, † schmeren), ON. smyrva, -ja (MSw. smyrja, smöria, Sw. smörja; MDa. smørie, Da. smøre).]
1. trans. To anoint with oil, chrism, etc., as a symbolic ceremony. In later use only with contemptuous force.
c825Vesp. Ps. lxxxviii. 21 In ele halᵹum minum ic smirede hine. c1250Gen. & Exod. 2457 Cristene folc..ben smered ðor quiles he liuen, Wið crisme and olie. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9377 Vr lige louerd þat yeled is, & ismered to Ihesu Crist. a1300Cursor M. 7377 Vn-to king þou sal him smer. 1340Ayenb. 93 Of þise oyle byeþ ysmered þo þet god heþ ymad kynges and lhordes of þe wordle. 1550Crowley Inform. & Petit. Sel. Wks. (1872) 154 So long as ydle bealies may come to the bishope and be smered for money. 1823Scott Quentin D. xxx, What will be left to the descendant..of Charlemagne,..save to be smeared with oil at Rheims, and to eat their dinner under a high canopy?
fig.c825Vesp. Ps. xliv. 8 Smirede ðec god..mid ele blisse. a1200Vices & Virt. 33 For ði haueð ðin lauerd ismered þe mid ða ele of blisse.
2. a. To anoint, to rub or daub (a part of the body) with oil, grease, or some similar preparation. Said also of the oil, etc. In later use with suggestion of sense 4.
c825Vesp. Ps. cxl. 5 Ele..synfulles ne smireð heafud min. 971Blickling Hom. 69 Maria ᵹenam an pund deorwyrþre smerenesse, & smerede þæs Hælendes fet. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. vi. 17 Þonne ðu fæste, smyra þin heafod, and þweah þine ansyne. c1175Lamb. Hom. 53 Alswa doð monie of þas wimmen heo smurieð heom mid blanchet, þet is þes deofles sape. c1305Judas Iscariot 126 in E.E.P. (1862) 110 Wiþ þis swete oignement heo smired oure louerd þer. c1315Shoreham i. 374 For oyle smereþ þane champion, Þat me ne schel him festne. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. ii. 775 The Groom..stript for Wrestling, smears his Limbs with Oyl. 1717Prior Alma ii. 454 The Indian Fair Is nicely smear'd with Fat of Bear. 1772–84Cook's Voy. (1790) I. 33 Their..foreheads..being generally smeared with brown and red paints. 1865Livingstone Zambesi xi. 231 Their foreheads were smeared with white flour. 1885Clodd Myths i. vi. 105 They smear themselves with black paint in memory of that tradition.
fig.971Blickling Hom. 73 Ᵹif we nu willaþ ure saula smerian mid mildheortnesse ele. a1225Ancr. R. 244 Beoden smurieð him mid swete oluhnunge, auh teares prikieð him.
†b. To prepare (a dead body) with unguents before burial. Obs.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Mark xiv. 8 [Hia] forecuom to smiriane [Rushw. smiranne, Cp. smyrianne, Hatt. smeriene] lichoma min on bebyrᵹennise. c1055Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 299 Mid þam man smyrað ricra manna lic. a1225Ancr. R. 372 Nicodemus brohte smuriles uorte smurien mide ure Louerd. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2442 Iosep dede hise lich..Wassen, and riche-like smeren.
3. a. To anoint medicinally; to treat (a wound, etc.) with a copious application of some thick or greasy medicament.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. John ix. 11 Monn..lam worhte & smiride eᵹo mino. c1000Sax. Leechd. III. 114 Smure þæt sar ᵹelomelice mid. c1175Lamb. Hom. 79 An helendis Mon..wesch his wunden mid wine and smerede mid oli. a1225Leg. Kath. 1600 Þe engles wið smirles of aromaz smireden hire wunden. a1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 277 He let is heued of-smyte, and smeorie [Harl. smyrede] him with is blod. a1300Cursor M. 13547 Wit þis vn-to þe erth he spitt,..And smerd þar-wit his oþer ei. 14..Sir Beues 3857 + 16 (MS. C.), [He] smeryd hur with oyntment. 1807Med. Jrnl. XVII. 446 Mischief must extend, although the injured parts be smeared with turpentine. 1843R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxvi. 331 We were in the habit of smearing it [sc. the skin] with zinc ointment for several days successively. 1863W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vii. 269 We smear him with grease and gunpowder in lieu of sulphur.
fig.a1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 7 And bringue with him þe eoyle of milce..to smeorie þare-with and bringe of pine þine fader and alle his.
b. To rub (sheep) with a mixture fitted to keep wet out of the fleece and prevent disease or vermin.
c1395Plowman's Tale iii. i. (Thynne, 1542), Ne Christes apostels were never so bold No such lordshippes to hem enbrace; But smeren hir sheep and kepe hir fold. 1561A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) i. 94 Sic sanctitude was Sathanis sorcereis, Christis sillie scheip and sobir flok to smeir. 1684[see smeared ppl. a. 2]. 1796Statist. Acc. Scotl. XVIII. 570 In..November the whole stock is smeared; a practice which..is found to be..beneficial. 1844H. Stephens Bk. Farm III. 1115 When the skin of sheep is covered with such substances they are said to be smeared. 1884L. F. Allen New Amer. Farm Bk. 439 Smearing, or salving sheep, is a custom little practiced in this country.
4. a. To spread, daub, cover thickly or in patches, with some unctuous, greasy, sticky, or dirty substance. Sometimes said of the substance. Also rarely with in.
(a)971Blickling Hom. 73 Þæt næfre ne afulaþ þæt mid hire ᵹesmered biþ. c1200Ormin 994 Bulltedd bræd..smeredd wel wiþþ elesæw. c1330Arth. & Merl. 599 (Kölbing), Were ȝour werk ysmerd þer wiþ, Euer it wold stond in griþ. 1340Ayenb. 60 Hy smerieþ þane way of helle mid hony. a1450Knt. de la Tour (1868) 68 The fende alweye wolde smere her in the face with the brennynge piche, grese, oyle, lede, and terre. a1529Skelton E. Rummyng 88 Her shone smered wyth talowe. 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 196 These they smere or annoint with the pytche of molten Bitumen. 1614Gorges Lucan iv. 161 All their bits were smeared ore With dusty dryed frothy gore. 1667Milton P.L. xi. 727 A Vessel of huge bulk..Smeard round with Pitch. 1744Berkeley Siris §9 Stems of trees, smeared over with tar, are preserved thereby from being hurt by..goats. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 123 The unctuous substance with which it is smeared. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xxxiv, The fatal weapon was found in the chamber, smeared with blood. 1877Black Green Past. i, I don't suppose he smears his hands with treacle.
(b)1592Arden of Feversham v. i, Sweete Arden, smeard in bloode and filthy gore. 1607Shakes. Cor. i. vi. 69 If any such be heere..that loue this painting Wherein you see me smear'd. 1807J. Barlow Columb. v. 204 His troops..smear their paths in blood.
b. Without const.
a1225Ancr. R. 378 He streccheð him touward us ase þing þet is ismured. 13..Seuyn Sages 1151 (W.), In ech [hole] he pelt a dosele, And smerede the holes al aboute. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxvi. (Bodl. MS.), Men vseth to smere þe iointe of an Elephant to dry þe better. 1531Tindale Exp. 1 John (1537) 82 One..had nede of greace to grease shues or smeere bootes. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. iv. iii, Let him feed on slime That smeares the dungeon cheeke. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1638) 302 Other Temples have other Pagods;..some of them are painted or smeered black; others red. 1763Churchill Proph. Fam. Poems 1767 I. 90 Slugs, pinched with hunger, smear'd the slimy wall. 1805–6Cary Dante, Inf. xxi. 8 Tenacious pitch, to smear Their unsound vessels. 1900Daily News 4 June 6/2 The youngsters were smeared to the eyes.
c. fig. (a) Chiefly const. with, and usually implying something base or discreditable; (b) (without const.), to attempt to discredit (a reputation, etc.) (colloq., orig. U.S.).
1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Jas. II. 37 Why are you smeared with the vaine pleasures of this world? 1596Dalrymple tr. Leslie's Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.) I. 296 Sche smeiris baith his mynd and eires with thir wordes. 1598R. Barckley Felic. Man (1631) 171 Happi's the man..whom glory does not smeere With lying drosse. 1602Marston Antonio's Rev. ii. iii, If the least soyle of lust smeers my pure love. 1652Benlowes Theoph. xiii. lvii. 243 After Nights soot smears Heav'n, day gilds its face. 1847Helps Friends in C. i. iv. 63 People smearing each other over the stupid flattery. 1879‘E. Garrett’ Ho. by Works II. 165 She would not smear his memory by any falsehoods now.
(b)1936W. Irwin Propaganda & News xxii. 292 When the Republicans began calling this line of attack the ‘smear Hoover’ campaign, Michelson..faced the microphone with a masterpiece of ingenious invective. 1945G. Endore Methinks the Lady xi. 268 You had plenty of time..to hold up the jury while you smeared the science of psychoanalysis. 1948Manch. Guardian Weekly 23 Sept. 9 He is afraid of being smeared. 1951Here & Now (N.Z.) May 23/2 Mary Jane Keeny has been a target for the red⁓baiters who from time to time try to smear the UN as a Communist-dominated organisation. 1966Listener 30 June 934/2 What the successors are trying to do seems to me not so much to prove particular corruption as to smear the previous regime. 1978G. McDonald Fletch's Fortune (1979) xix. 130 Is the campaign against me going to continue? Are the March newspapers going to continue to smear me?
d. techn. To glaze (pottery) by a process of evaporation.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 1019 The operation called smearing, consists in giving an external lustre to the unglazed semi⁓vitrified ware. 1893Handbk. Brit. Pottery & Porc. (Mus. Pract. Geol.) 58 Certain compositions may also be placed in the bottom of the closed saggers, and by their evaporation the ware in them may be smeared or semi-glazed.
e. In Southern Africa, to coat over (the floor of a hut, etc.) with a mixture of cow-dung and water.
1839W. C. Harris Wild Sports S. Afr. xvii. 143 The space was smeared with a mixture of mud and cow-dung, resembling that used in all parts of India for similar purposes. 1878,1880[see dagga2]. 1893Blennerhassett & Sleeman Adv. Mashonaland ii. 32 We were unsuited physically for such work as ‘daghering’ huts or ‘smearing floors’.
5. To lay on in a thick or greasy layer.
a1300Cursor M. 6077 Þis lamb blod..On aider post þer hus to smer. 1595Duncan App. Etym. (E.D.S.), Illino, illinio, to smeir on. 1847C. Winston Hints Glass Painting (1867) 284 A coat of enamel brown smeared smoothly and evenly on the glass. 1888Rutley Rock-forming Min. 23 The [slab] of lead or cast-iron, on which rather, but not very, coarse emery is smeared with water. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VII. 550 If some of the exudation from the brain be smeared on these media.
6. a. To rub out with a smear or smudge; to rub or draw in a smeary manner.
1840Dickens Old C. Shop iii, If he did by accident form a letter properly, he immediately smeared it out again with his arm. 1848― Dombey iii, You go a smearing your wet face against the expensive mourning that Mrs. Richards is a wearing for your ma. 1854W. Collins Hide & Seek III. viii. 231 They seemed to get smeared out of my head—like we used to smear old sums off our slates at school. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iv. xv, Smearing his sleeve across his mouth. 1920‘K. Mansfield’ Bliss & Other Stories 73 And then there is the waiter... When he is not smearing over the table or flicking at a dead fly or two, he stands with one hand on the back of a chair. 1964W. Golding Spire ii. 37 One delver relaxed, and smeared a hand over his sweaty face. Ibid. viii. 155 He peered in [a metal sheet] closer and closer until his breath dimmed his own image and he had to smear it off with his sleeve.
b. To thrash or kill; to wipe out or destroy by bombing. slang.
1935A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 109/1 Smear, to kill. 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 68 To smear someone, to thrash a person in a bout of fisticuffs. 1944Amer. Speech XIX. 187 He [sc. S. J. Baker] gives examples of Australian argot, of which several follow:..smear, to murder, [etc.]. 1957P. Frank Seven Days to Never ix. 245 We can smear every base, every industrial complex, once and for all. 1958P. Bryant Two Hours to Doom 43 The report on the..Russian I.C.B.M. site had removed his..doubt..whether his bombers could smear it before the missiles were fired off. |