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besmeared

Verb
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Covered, smeared, or stained with a substance, often dirt, blood, or grime; the word commonly conveys defilement or unpleasant disorder.

Detailed Definition
In older or literary English, to besmear means to smear or soil something with a substance, often in a messy or degrading way. Here it suggests the farmyard’s peace has been spoiled or sullied by the fox’s arrival.
Example
Example in poetry:
“And the farmyard’s peace was soon besmeared!” means stained, soiled, or morally tainted; Shakespeare uses besmear for physical dirt and disgraceful defilement; “newsprint besmeared his hands with yesterday’s lies” joins literal ink to ethical criticism; the harsh consonants make the word effective in descriptions of violence, mud, or corruption
Additional Notes
The verb "besmeared" in the quoted line is a literary/archaic form that many modern readers would not use in everyday speech.; Found in the poem, The Nun's Priest's Tale by Richard
Also Known As
Smeared Stained Daubed Tainted
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