besmall

English

Etymology

From be- +‎ small.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɔːl

Verb

besmall (third-person singular simple present besmalls, present participle besmalling, simple past and past participle besmalled)

1. (transitive, rare, nonstandard) To make small; (figurative) to make as though small.
   • 1974, Pacific islands monthly:

     And loneliness balked my pride, my innate pride, my integral native being, besmalling me all the more, until I couldn't remember myself the way I did last year and the years before.

   • 1984, Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, Bikmaus:

     "Weariness too faltered my conscience . . . besmalling me."

   • 2000, Ed. Manmohan K. Bhatnagar, Twentieth Century Literature in English:

     The besmalled position shocks Tusker to fell sick for a long time and finally die when he is asked to vacate the Lodge.

Derived terms

• besmalled

Anagrams

• emballs, lambels