bespatter
Americanverb (used with object)
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to soil by spattering; splash with water, dirt, etc.
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to slander or libel.
a reputation bespattered by malicious gossip.
verb
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to splash all over, as with dirty water
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to defile; slander; besmirch
Etymology
Origin of bespatter
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It is unnecessary to go through the long verbiage of abuse and blasphemy with which these theologians thought it their duty to bespatter Joan of Arc.
From Joan of Arc by Gower, Ronald Sutherland
Howell has a poem “On some who, blending their brains together, plotted how to bespatter one of the Muses’ choicest sons, Sir William D’Avenant.”
From Calamities and Quarrels of Authors by Disraeli, Isaac
I know they are pleased to bespatter me at all their little dirty levees.
From Goldsmith English Men of Letters Series by Black, William
Thou dost fall and break thy limbs, and bespatter thyself with mud, like a crocodile, and no one reaches out a hand to thee.
From Peeps at Many Lands: Ancient Egypt by Baikie, Constance N.
I saw her, the other day, bespatter the Governor himself with water, at the cattle-trough in Spring Lane.
From The Scarlet Letter by Foote, Mary Hallock
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.