Smeared or spread; covered with a smeared substance; in a messy, smudged condition.
From 'a-' plus 'smear,' where 'smear' comes from Old English 'smerian' meaning to anoint or soil. The word entered English through Germanic roots and is related to 'smirch.'
The 'a-' adverbial forms were especially useful for describing states of mess and disorder—'asmear,' 'aslop,' 'asoak'—maybe because ancient and medieval people wanted really vivid ways to describe their very muddy, wet, dirty lives.
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