to smear
63
3.7
- verb
- /smɪr/
:
manchar
- She carefully smeared the paint on the canvas, creating an abstract design.
- smear with blood
- smear on the forehead
- smear with white clay
Something had been smeared on the heads and necks.
- Something had been smeared on the heads and necks.
- You can get it looking good, but it will kind of smear and just it's just not good.
- There's a million creams and potions and things you can smear, which I do sometimes.
- As in not like flakes but they will smear under my eyes which is so weird.
Examples
-
After cooking it with garlic, oil, and chilies, he would then smear it on bread.
Academic text (1991) -
Take the warmed butter-and-garlic sauce... and just smear it all inside the cavity.
-
If the the product is not dry, it's going to smear on your face.
-
You smear it all over your body...
-
Every night I smear it on and the next day I can walk around without getting rashes.
-
Now I'm going to smear it like some peanut butter.
-
She had to constantly smear cream on herself.
-
So I'm just going to pick some up and literally smear it on the cheek.
-
Some of the cement appears to have been crudely smeared away with a cloth.
Academic text (2003) -
Jaapie dips his finger in the blood and smears it across his new tattoo.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
30
3.7
To make something dirty or blurred by rubbing
22
4.0
To clean a surface or put liquid on it using a cotton stick
15
6.9
Spread a thick layer of a wet thing like sauce or sunscreen on a surface
13
6.5
To cover something with a thick slippery substance
3
8.1
To cover a surface roughly with a thick sticky substance
2
6.7
To put uneven marks of color or liquid on a surface
1
9.9
To cover something thickly with a sticky, messy substance
1
3.5
To make something dirty with wet dirt, for example shoes or floors
To spread paint on a surface in a messy, uneven way
To smear something roughly with paint, plaster, or another soft wet material
To cover something with a sticky or greasy substance
To make a dirty mark or smudge on something
To paint quickly in a messy, uneven way
To stain something with black dirt or soot
To mark with spots or stains
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
16
5.5
An organized effort to hurt someone's reputation by making false or unfair accusations
- Specialized
12
4.3
A medical test in which a doctor takes cells from a woman's cervix to check for signs of cancer
- UK
1
3.7
A medical test that checks cells from a woman's cervix for signs of cancer or other problems
- Specialized
A sample of cells taken from the lungs with a small camera to check for lung disease
- Specialized
A small sample of cells spread thin on a glass slide to look at under a microscope
- Specialized
A small sample of cells taken from the upper part of the small intestine to check for infection
- Specialized
A medical test that takes cells from the food pipe to look at under a microscope
- Specialized
A sample of cells taken from part of the digestive tract to check for diseases like cancer
- Specialized
A sample from the lungs placed on a slide to look for infection or cancer
- Specialized
A lab test where a sample from the stomach is put on a slide to check for infection
- Specialized
A test that collects cells from the opening of a woman's womb to look for early cancer
- Specialized
A test that examines material from the first part of the small intestine under a microscope to check for infection
- Specialized
A lab test that spreads lung mucus on a slide and checks it under a microscope for disease
- Specialized
A sample of cells taken from the inside of a woman's birth canal to check for infection or unusual cells
How Covered
Surface Forms
Etymology
Smear comes from an old English word smeoran meaning 'to rub with oil or fat'. Think of rubbing sunscreen or grease across your skin or a chain — that action of spreading a substance is why we use smear for this verb.