Begrime

//bɪˈɡɹaɪm// verb

verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To ingrain grime or dirt which is difficult to remove into (something); also (more generally), to make (something) dirty; to soil. transitive

    "[U]pon a vaine and fooliſh ſuperſtition, enjoining men to begrime and beray themſelves with durt, to lie and vvallovv in the mire, to obſerve Sabbaths and ceaſe from vvorke, to lie proſtrate and groveling upon the earth with the face dovvnevvard, to ſit upon the ground in open place, and to make many ſtrange and extravagant adorations."

  2. 2
    make soiled, filthy, or dirty wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
dirtydirtysoilassoilbeclartbedaub

Example

More examples

"[U]pon a vaine and fooliſh ſuperſtition, enjoining men to begrime and beray themſelves with durt, to lie and vvallovv in the mire, to obſerve Sabbaths and ceaſe from vvorke, to lie proſtrate and groveling upon the earth with the face dovvnevvard, to ſit upon the ground in open place, and to make many ſtrange and extravagant adorations."

Etymology

From be- (prefix meaning ‘about; abundantly; all around; all over’) + grime (“to cake with dirt”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.