smudge
Example Sentences
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The 22-year-old now runs his own business scrubbing every sheet metal curve and interior corner of a vehicle until there isn’t a smudge or crumb left.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 30, 2026
You can distort a timeline, smudge the facts, and leave others out to pursue one angle in favor of another, depending on your agenda.
From Slate ● Oct. 13, 2025
The coolest collegiate women’s basketball player on the planet routinely produces plays so picturesque, every smudge is briefly met with a pained annoyance that inspires her to retrieve the brush and swirl anew.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2024
At church services across the country, clergy members will smudge crosses on parishioners’ foreheads, murmuring, “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
From New York Times ● Feb. 14, 2024
She looked down at Ess, at the bits of leaf and sand in her hair and the smudge on her cheek.
From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder
One especially useful touch for travelers: the spa offers quick-drying traditional polishes, making it easier to get back to sightseeing without worrying about smudges.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
If smudges in the sky are your thing, sure, fine.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2024
And the dark smudges of exhaustion below Kravchenko's eyes made him look like he was wearing stage paint.
From BBC ● Feb. 23, 2024
“They told me to go on a computer, but the computers are dirty. People are touching those computers. You can see the smudges, the dark spots. Like they never clean them.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
His eyes were red and under them were dark smudges.
From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler
They’re the smart choice, even if you come across a slightly smudged crystal ball.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
"Intensity mapping is like viewing the same scene through a smudged plane window: you get a blurrier picture, but you capture all the light and not just the brightest spots."
From Science Daily ● Mar. 8, 2026
He has been keeping close tabs on the touring production, not wanting his handiwork to get smudged in transit.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 27, 2025
Another message, partially smudged, appears to tell officers to catch the inmates when they can.
From BBC ● May 20, 2025
Her hair ratted, her nose smudged, and she left handprints wherever she went.
From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill
The two women move around the room, burning herbs and shaking shamanic rattles while singing and chanting in a purification ritual known as "smudging".
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025
If you want to continue smudging not all hope is lost.
From Salon ● Jan. 1, 2024
Researchers believe these early artists selected charcoal because it was the perfect medium, ideal for the smudging and blending techniques used in cave paintings.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 4, 2023
On another, Djokovic tumbled behind the baseline, smudging his red shirt, blue shorts and skin with the rust-colored clay.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 11, 2023
Sefia was crying again, her tears smudging the ink.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Vocabulary lists containing smudge
List 7
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List 9
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