vbl. sb. [f. SMEAR v. + -ING1.] The action or process of anointing, daubing, etc., with some unctuous substance; a substance used for this purpose; a layer of ointment, paint, etc., smeared on.
c. 1000. in Assmann, Ags. Hom., xvi. 36. Æniʓ þing … on smyrunge oððe on wyrtum … þæt ðu myhtest myne wunde myd ʓehælan.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 174. Balzaman smiring wiþ eallum untrumnessum.
1340. Ayenb., 148. He ssel þerto do þe smeringes and þe plastres of zuete warningges.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., V. xxvi. (Bodl. MS.). Þe cure is resting and smering, by somme vnguementes.
1611. Cotgr., Linition, a smearing, annointing,… rubbing.
1668. Wilkins, Real Char., 247. Smearing, daubing.
c. 1790. Imison, School Arts, II. 54. Lay a piece of clean paper upon it, to prevent smearing.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric., II. 1154. They are collected together,… in order to undergo the operation of smearing or salving.
1853. Kane, Grinnell Exped., xxxvi. (1856), 326. A smearing of red sealing-wax.
1893. Handbk. Brit. Pottery & Porc. (Mus. Pract. Geol.), 58. Smearing … is produced by the evaporation, or volatilisation, of certain glazes in closed saggers.
attrib. 1814. Scott, Wav., xlv. The hovel … seemed to be intended for what is called, in the pastoral counties of Scotland, a smearing-house.
1844. H. Stephens, Bk. Farm, III. 1117. The sheep should be laid on the smearing-stool.
1875. Encycl. Brit., I. 397. The smearing material is a salve composed of tar and butter.
