smear
verb/smɪə(r)/
/smɪr/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they smear | /smɪə(r)/ /smɪr/ |
| he / she / it smears | /smɪəz/ /smɪrz/ |
| past simple smeared | /smɪəd/ /smɪrd/ |
| past participle smeared | /smɪəd/ /smɪrd/ |
| -ing form smearing | /ˈsmɪərɪŋ/ /ˈsmɪrɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] to spread an oily or soft substance over a surface in a rough or careless way synonym daub
- smear something on/over something The children had smeared mud on the walls.
- smear something with something The children had smeared the walls with mud.
- His face was smeared with blood.
Extra Examples- She smeared the cream liberally on her face.
- The child had smeared jam all over her face.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- liberally
- across
- on
- over
- …
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- [transitive, usually passive] to make something dirty or greasy
- (be) smeared His glasses were smeared.
- smeared windows
- [transitive] smear somebody/something to damage somebody’s reputation by saying unpleasant things about them that are not true synonym slander
- The story was an attempt to smear the party leader.
- [transitive, usually passive, intransitive] to rub writing, a drawing, etc. so that it is no longer clear; to become not clear in this way synonym smudge
- be smeared The last few words of the letter were smeared.
- be smeared + adv./prep. Jam was smeared all over his face.
Word OriginOld English smierwan (verb), smeoru ‘ointment, grease’, of Germanic origin; related to German schmieren (verb), Schmer (noun).
Check pronunciation:
smear