belibel

English

Etymology

From be- +‎ libel.

Verb

belibel (third-person singular simple present belibels, present participle (US) belibeling or (UK) belibelling, simple past and past participle (US) belibeled or (UK) belibelled)

1. (dated, transitive) To libel, slander, calumniate.

   Synonyms: besmirch, diss, traduce; see also Thesaurus:defame

   • a. 1662 (date written), Thomas Fuller, The History of the Worthies of England, London: […] J[ohn] G[rismond,] W[illiam] L[eybourne] and W[illiam] G[odbid], published 1662, →OCLC:

     See the laziness of posterity ; so far from imitating the industry of their ancestors , that they belibel the pure effects of their pains as hellish achievements

References

• “belibel”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• leblebi