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smear

verb [T] (ACCUSE)
 
 
/smɪər/ US  /smɪr/

Definition

to publicly accuse someone of something unpleasant, unreasonable, or unlikely to be true in order to harm their reputation: She decided to sue for libel after the newspaper smeared her private life.Damaging reputationDisapproving and criticizing
(Definition of smear verb (ACCUSE) from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

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