smear

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
smear/smɪə(r)/

▶verb

• 1 coat or mark with a greasy or sticky substance.

  ■ spread (a greasy or sticky substance) over a surface.

  ■ blur or smudge.

• 2 damage the reputation of (someone) by false accusations.

▶noun

• 1 a greasy or sticky mark.

• 2 a false accusation.

• 3 a sample thinly spread on a microscopic slide.

  ■ Brit. short for smear test.

• 4 Climbing an insecure foothold.

– derivatives
smearer noun,
smeary adjective.

– origin OE smierwan (v.), smeoru ‘ointment, grease’, of Gmc origin.