bedaub

American  

[bih-dawb] / bɪˈdɔb /

verb (used with object)

1. to smear all over; besmear; soil.

2. to ornament gaudily or excessively.

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bedaub British  

/ bɪˈdɔːb /

verb

1. to smear all over with something thick, sticky, or dirty

2. to ornament in a gaudy or vulgar fashion

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Other Word Forms

• unbedaubed adjective

Etymology

Origin of bedaub

First recorded in 1545–55; be- + daub

Example Sentences

To plaster over; to cover or smear thickly; to bedaub.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah

To cover with dung, as for manuring; to bedaub or defile, literally or figuratively.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah

Demosthenes describes the mother of Æschines as a dabbler in mysteries, and tells how Æschines used to assist her by helping to bedaub the initiate with clay and bran.

From Storyology Essays in Folk-Lore, Sea-Lore, and Plant-Lore by Taylor, Benjamin

The men paint or bedaub their faces and breasts with a kind of red earth.

From The Captive in Patagonia by Bourne, Benjamin Franklin

Both Greeks and savages employ the bull-roarer, both bedaub the initiated with dirt or with white paint or chalk.

From Custom and Myth New Edition by Lang, Andrew