Word of the Day

Saturday, April 08, 2000

bedaub

\bih-DOB\ , transitive verb;

To smudge over; to besmear or soil with anything thick and dirty.

To overdecorate; to ornament showily or excessively.

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Quotes:

The patient's signature is less neat than usual, not only because of his agitated state but also, quite possibly, because the pen is so bedaubed with chocolate that it slips through his fingers.

-- Marcel Beyer, "The Karnau Tapes.", Grand Street, Fall 1997

Only their wagon keeps on rolling, empty, bedaubed with tears, under our windows.

-- Laszlo Darvasi and Ivan Sanders, "Stories of Kisses, Stories of Tears.", Grand Street, March 1, 1997

Origin:

Bedaub is from be-, "thoroughly" + daub, from Medieval French dauber, "to plaster," perhaps from Old French dauber, "to clothe in white, white-wash, plaster," from Latin dealbare, "to whitewash, to plaster," from de- (intensive prefix) + albus, "white."