Library / English Dictionary

SMEAR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An act that brings discredit to the person who does it

Example:

he made a huge blot on his copybook

Synonyms:

blot; smear; smirch; spot; stain

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("smear" is a kind of...):

error; fault; mistake (a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A blemish made by dirt

Example:

he had a smudge on his cheek

Synonyms:

blot; daub; slur; smear; smirch; smudge; spot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("smear" is a kind of...):

blemish; defect; mar (a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something (especially on a person's body))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "smear"):

blotch; splodge; splotch (an irregularly shaped spot)

fingermark; fingerprint (a smudge made by a (dirty) finger)

inkblot (a blot made with ink)

Derivation:

smear (make a smudge on; soil by smudging)

smear (stain by smearing or daubing with a dirty substance)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A thin tissue or blood sample spread on a glass slide and stained for cytologic examination and diagnosis under a microscope

Synonyms:

cytologic smear; cytosmear; smear

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("smear" is a kind of...):

cytologic specimen (a specimen used for cytologic examination and diagnosis)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "smear"):

alimentary tract smear (any of several cytologic smears obtained from different parts of the alimentary tract; obtained by specialized lavage techniques and used mainly to diagnose cancer in those parts)

cervical smear; Pap smear; Papanicolaou smear (a sample of secretions and superficial cells of the uterine cervix and uterus; examined with a microscope to detect any abnormal cells)

bronchoscopic smear; lower respiratory tract smear; sputum smear (any of several cytologic smears obtained from different parts of the lower respiratory tract; used for cytologic study of cancer and other diseases of the lungs)

vaginal smear (smear taken from the vaginal mucosa for cytological analysis)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Slanderous defamation

Synonyms:

malignment; smear; vilification

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("smear" is a kind of...):

calumniation; calumny; defamation; hatchet job; obloquy; traducement (a false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone's words or actions)

Derivation:

smear (charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone

Example:

The article in the paper sullied my reputation

Synonyms:

asperse; besmirch; calumniate; defame; denigrate; slander; smear; smirch; sully

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "smear" is one way to...):

accuse; charge (blame for, make a claim of wrongdoing or misbehavior against)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "smear"):

assassinate (destroy or damage seriously, as of someone's reputation)

libel (print slanderous statements against)

badmouth; drag through the mud; malign; traduce (speak unfavorably about)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

smear (slanderous defamation)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cover (a surface) by smearing (a substance) over it

Example:

daub the ceiling with plaster

Synonyms:

daub; smear

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "smear" is one way to...):

cover (provide with a covering or cause to be covered)

Verb group:

daub (apply to a surface)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "smear"):

blood (smear with blood, as in a hunting initiation rite, where the face of a person is smeared with the blood of the kill)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make a smudge on; soil by smudging

Synonyms:

blur; smear; smudge; smutch

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "smear" is one way to...):

rub (move over something with pressure)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "smear"):

resmudge (smudge again)

dust (rub the dust over a surface so as to blur the outlines of a shape)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence examples:

The children smear the paper with grease

The children smear grease onto the paper

Derivation:

smear (a blemish made by dirt)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Stain by smearing or daubing with a dirty substance

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "smear" is one way to...):

begrime; bemire; colly; dirty; grime; soil (make soiled, filthy, or dirty)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "smear"):

moil (moisten or soil)

besmirch; smirch (smear so as to make dirty or stained)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

smear (a blemish made by dirt)

Credits

 Context examples: 

These abnormal cells are found in a small number of Pap smears (a procedure used to detect cervical cancer) and may be a sign of more serious lesions or cancer.

(AGUS, NCI Dictionary)

A phase of chronic myelogenous leukemia in which the peripheral blood smear shows leukocytosis due mainly to neutrophils in different stages of maturation.

(Chronic Phase Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, BCR-ABL1 Positive, NCI Thesaurus/WHO)

A hematology test result that indicates the presence of an increased white blood cell count and increased neutrophil precursors resembling leukemia, in a peripheral blood smear.

(Leukemoid Reaction, NCI Thesaurus)

Also called Pap smear and Pap test.

(Papanicolaou test, NCI Dictionary)

It is characterized by defects in the neutrophil lobulation, resulting in the presence of dumbbell-shaped neutrophils with bilobed nuclei in the peripheral blood smear.

(Pelger-Huet Anomaly, NCI Thesaurus)

Her white nightdress was smeared with blood, and a thin stream trickled down the man's bare breast which was shown by his torn-open dress.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

For the rest, it was cracked, exceedingly dusty, and spotted in several places, although there seemed to have been some attempt to hide the discoloured patches by smearing them with ink.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

They also used different plasters on some walls, and smeared the surfaces with buttermilk or potato starch solutions to trigger moss and mould to grow.

(Smoother walls healthier for lungs, SciDev.Net)

A group of neurologic disorders associated with acanthocytosis on the peripheral blood smear.

(Neuroacanthocytosis, NCI Thesaurus)

A Pap smear may also help find other conditions, such as infections or inflammation.

(Pap smear, NCI Dictionary)