To cover thickly; to smother or suffocate by covering something completely.
Combination of 'be-' (to cover) with 'smother' (to suffocate). Both elements have Germanic origins; 'smother' possibly derives from Old English or Middle Low German roots meaning to suppress or stifle.
The phrase 'smothered with love' shows how physical verbs become emotional—'besmother' could mean both literal suffocation and excessive affection, a poetic ambiguity that Shakespeare and romantic poets exploited brilliantly.
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