bedaub
verbUK /bɪˈdɔːb/ · /bɪˈdɔb/
Etymology From be- (“thoroughly, extensively”) + daub, from Old French dauber (“to plaster, whitewash”), from Latin dealbō (“whiten over, plaster”).
1
To smear upon; to soil.
- In this 6 mile we Crosst several miring branches in which we were all terribly bedaubed … Having almost spent the day in this toilsome tho short Journey.2009, Noeleen McIlvenna, quoting journal, 1711, A Very Mutinous People, Univ of North Carolina Press, →ISBN, page 18:
2
To ornament garishly; to overdecorate.
- Derived terms
- unbedaubed
- Related terms
- besmear