Forms: α. 1 smirian (smiran), 3 smirien, 4 smyrie. Pa. t. 1, 3 smirede (1 -ide), 4 smired, smyrede. Pa. pple. 3 i-smiret. β. 1 smyrian (-iʓan), 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. t. 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 sb., = 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.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter lxxxviii. 21. In ele halʓum minum ic smirede hine.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2457. Cristene folc … ben smered ðor quiles he liuen, Wið crisme and olie.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 9377. Vr lige louerd þat yeled is, & ismered to Ihesu Crist.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 7377. Vn-to king þou sal him smer.
1340. Ayenb., 93. Of þise oyle byeþ ysmered þo þet god heþ ymad kynges and lhordes of þe wordle.
1550. Crowley, Inform. & Petit., Sel. Wks. (1872), 154. So long as ydle bealies may come to the bishope and be smered for money.
1823. Scott, 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. c. 825. Vesp. Psalter xliv. 8. Smirede ðec god … mid ele blisse.
c. 1200. Vice & Virt., 33. For ði haueð ðin lauerd ismered þe mid ða ele of blisse.
2. 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.
c. 825. Vesp. Psalter cxl. 5. Ele … synfulles ne smireð heafud min.
971. Blickling Hom., 69. Maria ʓenam an pund deorwyrþre smerenesse, & smerede þæs Hælendes fet.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. vi. 17. Þonne ðu fæste, smyra þin heafod, and þweah þine ansyne.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 53. Alswa doð monie of þas wimmen heo smurieð heom mid blanchet, þet is þes deofles sape.
c. 1305. Judas Iscariot, 126, in E. E. P. (1862), 110. Wiþ þis swete oignement heo smired oure louerd þer.
c. 1315. Shoreham, I. 374. For oyle smereþ þane champion, Þat me ne schel him festne.
1697. Dryden, Virg. Georg., II. 775/94. The Groom … stript for Wrestling, smears his Limbs with Oyl.
1717. Prior, Alma, II. 454. The Indian Fair Is nicely smear’d with Fat of Bear.
1772–84. Cook’s Voy. (1790), I. 33. Their … foreheads … being generally smeared with brown and red paints.
1865. Livingstone, Zambesi, xi. 231. Their foreheads were smeared with white flour.
1885. Clodd, Myths & Dr., I. vi. 105. They smear themselves with black paint in memory of that tradition.
fig. 971. Blickling Hom., 73. ʓif we nu willaþ ure saula smerian mid mildheortnesse ele.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 244. Beoden smurieð him mid swete oluhnunge, auh teares prikieð him.
† b. To prepare (a dead body) with unguents before burial. Obs..
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., Mark xiv. 8. [Hia] forecuom to smiriane [Rushw. smiranne, Cp. smyrianne, Hatt. smeriene] lichoma min on bebyrʓennise.
c. 1055. Byrhtferth’s Handboc, in Anglia, VIII. 299. Mid þam man smyrað ricra manna lic.
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 372. Nicodemus brouhte smuriles uorte smurien mide ure Louerd.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2442. Iosep dede hise lich … Wassen, and riche-like smeren.
3. To anoint medicinally; to treat (a wound, etc.) with a copious application of some thick or greasy medicament.
c. 950. Lindisf. Gosp., John ix. 11. Monn … lam worhte & smiride eʓo mino.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., III. 114. Smure þæt sar ʓelomelice mid.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 79. An helendis Mon … wesch his wunden mid wine and smerede mid oli.
a. 1225. Leg. Kath., 1600. Þe engles wið smirles of aromaz smireden hire wunden.
a. 1290. S. Eng. Leg., I. 277. He let is heued of-smyte, and smeorie [Harl. smyrede] him with is blod.
a. 1300. Cursor 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.
1807. Med. Jrnl., XVII. 446. Mischief must extend, although the injured parts be smeared with turpentine.
1843. R. 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.
1863. W. C. Baldwin, Afr. Hunting, vii. 269. We smear him with grease and gunpowder in lieu of sulphur.
fig. a. 1290. S. 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.
c. 1395. Plowman’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.
1561. A. 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].
1796. Statist. Acc. Scotl., XVIII. 570. In … November the whole stock is smeared; a practice which … is found to be … beneficial.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, III. 1115. When the skin of sheep is covered with such substances they are said to be smeared.
1884. L. F. Allen, New Amer. Farm-Bk., 439. Smearing, or salving sheep, is a custom little practiced in this country.
4. 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) 971. Blickling Hom., 73. Þæt næfre ne afulaþ þæt mid hire ʓesmered biþ.
c. 1200. Ormin, 994. Bulltedd bræd … smeredd wel wiþþ elesæw.
c. 1330. Arth. & Merl., 599 (Kölbing). Were ȝour werk ysmerd þer wiþ, Euer it wold stond in griþ.
1340. Ayenb., 60. Hy smerieþ þane way of helle mid hony.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 68. The fende alweye wolde smere her in the face with the brennynge piche, grese, oyle, lede, and terre.
c. 1529. Skelton, E. Rummyng, 88. Her shone smered wyth talowe.
1555. Eden, Decades (Arb.), 196. These they smere or annoint with the pytche of molten Bitumen.
1614. Gorges, Lucan, IV. 161. All their bits were smeared ore With dusty dryed frothy gore.
1667. Milton, P. L., XI. 727. A Vessel of huge bulk … Smeard round with Pitch.
1744. Berkeley, Siris, § 9. Stems of trees, smeared over with tar, are preserved thereby from being hurt by … goats.
1774. Goldsm., Nat. Hist. (1776), IV. 123. The unctuous substance with which it is smeared.
1818. Scott, Br. Lamm., xxxiv. The fatal weapon was found in the chamber, smeared with blood.
1877. Black, Green Past., i. I don’t suppose he smears his hands with treacle.
(b) 1592. Arden of Feversham, V. i. Sweete Arden, smeard in bloode and filthy gore.
1607. Shaks., Cor., I. vi. 69. If any such be heere … that loue this painting Wherein you see me smear’d.
1807. J. Barlow, Columb., V. 204. His troops … smear their paths in blood.
b. Without const.
a. 1225. Ancr. 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.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. xxvi. (Bodl. MS.). Men vseth to smere þe iointe of an Elephant to dry þe better.
1531. Tindale, Exp. 1 John (1537), 82. One … had nede of greace to grease shues or smeere bootes.
1602. Marston, Antonio’s Rev., IV. iii. H 2 b. Let him feed on slime That smeares the dungeon cheeke.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav. (1638), 302. Other Temples have other Pagods;… some of them are painted or smeered black; others red.
1763. Churchill, Proph. Fam., Poems 1767, I. 90. Slugs, pinched with hunger, smear’d the slimy wall.
1805–6. Cary, Dante, Inf., XXI. 8. Tenacious pitch, to smear Their unsound vessels.
1900. Daily News, 4 June, 6/2. The youngsters were smeared to the eyes.
c. fig. Chiefly const. with, and usually implying something base or discreditable.
1549. Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Jas., II. 37. Why are you smeared with the vaine pleasures of this world?
1596. Dalrymple, trans. Leslie’s Hist. Scot. (S.T.S.), I. 296. Sche smeiris baith his mynd and eires with thir wordes.
1598. Barckley, Felic. Man (1631), 171. Happi’s the man … whom glory does not smeere With lying drosse.
1602. Marston, Antonio’s Rev., II. iii. D 4. If the least soyle of lust smeers my pure loue.
1652. Benlowes, Theoph., XIII. lvii. 243. After Nights soot smears Heav’n, day gilds its face.
1847. Helps, Friends in C., I. iv. 63. People smearing each other over with stupid flattery.
1879. ‘E. Garrett’ (Mrs. Mayo), House by Works, II. 165. She would not smear his memory by any falsehoods now.
d. techn. To glaze (pottery) by a process of evaporation.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 1019. The operation called smearing, consists in giving an external lustre to the unglazed semi-vitrified ware.
1893. Handbk. 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.
5. To lay on in a thick or greasy layer.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6077. Þis lamb blod … On aider post þer hus to smer.
1595. Duncan, App. Etym. (E. D. S.), Illino, illinio, to smeir on.
1847. Winston, Hints Glass Painting (1867), 284. A coat of enamel brown smeared smoothly and evenly on the glass.
1888. Rutley, Rock-Forming Min., 23. The one [slab] of lead or cast-iron, on which rather, but not very, coarse emery is smeared with water.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VII. 550. If some of the exudation from the brain be smeared on these media.
6. To rub out with a smear or smudge; to rub or draw in a smeary manner.
1840. Dickens, Old C. Shop, iii. If he did by accident form a letter properly, he immediately smeared it out again with his arm. Ibid. (1848), Dombey, iii. You go a smearing your wet face against the expensive mourning that Mrs. Richards is a wearing for your ma. Ibid. (1865), Mut. Fr., IV. xv. Smearing his sleeve across his mouth.
