Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To stain; sully.
- transitive verb To make dirty; soil.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To soil; discolor, as with soot or mud; hence, to sully; obscure.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To smirch or soil; to discolor; to obscure. Hence: To dishonor; to sully.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive To make dirty; to
soil . - verb transitive To
tarnish , especially someone's reputation; todebase .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb smear so as to make dirty or stained
- verb charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A warning from Michael Jackson's attorney to those who want to -- quote -- "besmirch" the king of pop's reputation.
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The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal has disputed Mhlongo's testimony, saying he was being used to "besmirch" the ANC.
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The TRC's findings were also "capricious and arbitrary" and would "besmirch" the legitimate struggle against apartheid ..
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Villa issued a statement on Wednesday accusing Sunderland of trying to "besmirch" the club's name, but the row shows few signs of abating as Bruce attempts to plug a gap made all the more sizeable by the news that loan signing Danny Welbeck has undergone surgery to repair a torn knee cartilage and will be sidelined for up to eight weeks.
WalesOnline - Home 2011
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Lashing out at critics trying to "besmirch" Tharoor by "presenting me as a proxy for him",
Analysis 2010
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Lashing out at critics trying to "besmirch" Mr. Tharoor by "presenting me as a proxy for him," Ms. Pushkar, whom the Minister was reportedly planning to marry, said it was "insulting for me as a woman and a friend."
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Lashing out at critics trying to "besmirch" Mr. Tharoor by "presenting me as a proxy for him," Ms. Pushkar, whom the Minister was reportedly planning to marry, said it was "insulting for me as a woman and a friend."
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Lashing out at critics trying to "besmirch" Tharoor by "presenting me as a proxy for him",
Analysis 2010
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Phil Spector, signaling a possible shift in tactics by the defense, which had promised not to "besmirch" slain actress Lana Clarkson.
unknown title 2009
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(BTW, Svalgaard delivers a very powerful rebuttal of the PU website so many EU proponents like to cite (it's 22nd June, 17:43:13, or search "besmirch": "The website is basically fraudulent in its claims and reflects the pseudo-science of its promoter.
Do "Skeleton" Filaments Give Structure to the Universe? | Universe Today 2009
yarb commented on the word besmirch
...with chocolate and phlegm
besmirching their jowls in equal amounts.
- Peter Reading, Ménage à Trois, from The Prison Cell & Barrel Mystery, 1976
June 23, 2008