Hypertext Webster Gateway: "sully"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Sully \Sul"ly\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Sullied}; p. pr. & vb. n.
{Sullying}.] [OE. sulien, AS. sylian, fr. sol mire; akin to
G. suhle mire, sich, s["u]hlen to wallow, Sw. s["o]la to
bemire, Dan. s["o]le, Goth. bisaulijan to defile.]
To soil; to dirty; to spot; to tarnish; to stain; to darken;
-- used literally and figuratively; as, to sully a sword; to
sully a person's reputation.
Statues sullied yet with sacrilegious smoke.
--Roscommon.
No spots to sully the brightness of this solemnity.
--Atterbury.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Sully \Sul"ly\, v. i.
To become soiled or tarnished.
Silvering will sully and canker more than gilding.
--Bacon.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Sully \Sul"ly\, n.; pl. {Sullies}.
Soil; tarnish; stain.
A noble and triumphant merit breaks through little
spots and sullies in his reputation. --Spectator.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
Sully
n 1: United States painter (born in England) of portraits and
historical scenes (1783-1872) [syn: {Sully}, {Thomas
Sully}]
2: French statesman (1560-1641) [syn: {Sully}, {Duc de Sully},
{Maxmilien de Bethune}]
v 1: place under suspicion or cast doubt upon; "sully someone's
reputation" [syn: {defile}, {corrupt}, {taint}, {cloud}]
2: make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air, of metals; also
used metaphorically: "The silver was tarnished by the long
exposure to the air"; "Her reputation was sullied after
the affair with a married man" [syn: {tarnish}, {maculate},
{defile}]
3: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good
name and reputation of someone; "The journalists have
defamed me!" The article in the paper sullied my
reputation" [syn: {defame}, {slander}, {smirch}, {asperse},
{denigrate}, {calumniate}, {smear}, {besmirch}]
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