cover vs smear

cover

verb
  • To place something over or upon, as to conceal or protect. 

  • To make a cover version of (a song that was originally recorded by another artist). 

  • To defend (mark) a particular player or area. 

  • To discuss thoroughly; to provide coverage of. 

  • To set upon all of, so as to completely conceal. 

  • To be upon all of, so as to completely conceal. 

  • To provide insurance coverage for. 

  • To traverse or put behind a certain distance. 

  • To act as a replacement. 

  • To deal with or include someone or something. 

  • To be enough money for. 

  • To invest (oneself with something); to bring upon (oneself). 

  • To have as an assignment or responsibility. 

  • To protect using an aimed firearm and the threat of firing; or to protect using continuous, heaving fire at or in the direction of the enemy so as to force the enemy to remain in cover; or to threaten using an aimed firearm. 

  • To be over or upon, as to conceal or protect. 

  • To extend over a given period of time or range, to occupy, to stretch over a given area. 

  • To copulate with (said of certain male animals such as dogs and horses). 

  • To protect or control (a piece or square). 

adj
  • Of, pertaining to, or consisting of cover versions. 

  • Of or pertaining to the front cover of a book or magazine. 

noun
  • The top sheet of a bed. 

  • A persona maintained by a spy or undercover operative; cover story. 

  • The front and back of a book, magazine, CD package, etc. 

  • A cloth or similar material, often fitted, placed over an item such as a car or sofa or food to protect it from dust, rain, insects, etc. when not being used. 

  • A collection (or family) of subsets of a given set, whose union contains every element of said original set. 

  • Area or situation which screens a person or thing from view. 

  • An envelope complete with stamps and postmarks etc. 

  • A solid object, including terrain, that provides protection from enemy fire. 

  • The portion of a slate, tile, or shingle that is hidden by the overlap of the course above. 

  • An insurance contract; coverage by an insurance contract. 

  • A setting at a restaurant table or formal dinner. 

  • A new performance or rerecording of a previously recorded song; a cover version; a cover song. 

  • The distance between reinforcing steel and the exterior of concrete. 

  • A fielding position on the off side, between point and mid off, about 30° forward of square; a fielder in this position. 

  • A cover charge. 

  • In a steam engine, the lap of a slide valve. 

  • A lid. 

  • In commercial law, a buyer’s purchase on the open market of goods similar or identical to the goods contracted for after a seller has breached a contract of sale by failure to deliver the goods contracted for. 

smear

verb
  • (of a substance, etc.) To make a surface dirty by covering it. 

  • To damage someone's reputation by slandering, misrepresenting, or otherwise making false accusations about them, their statements, or their actions. 

  • To become messy or not clear by being spread. 

  • To spread (a substance, especially one that colours or is dirty) across a surface by rubbing. 

  • To make something dirty. 

  • To cause (something) to be messy or not clear by rubbing and spreading it. 

  • To cause (something) to be a particular colour by covering with a substance. 

  • To climb without using footholds, using the friction from the shoe to stay on the wall. 

  • To cover (a surface with a layer of some substance) by rubbing. 

  • To rub (a body part, etc.) across a surface. 

  • To write or draw (something) by spreading a substance on a surface. 

  • To attempt to remove (a substance) from a surface by rubbing. 

noun
  • A Pap smear (screening test for cervical cancer). 

  • A false or unsupported, malicious statement intended to injure a person's reputation. 

  • Any of various forms of distortion that make a signal harder to see or hear. 

  • A mark made by smearing. 

  • A rough glissando in jazz music. 

  • A maneuver in which the shoe is placed onto the holdless rock, and the friction from the shoe keeps it in contact 

  • A preparation to be examined under a microscope, made by spreading a thin layer of a substance (such as blood, bacterial culture) on a slide. 

How often have the words cover and smear occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )