\As*perse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Aspersed}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Aspersing}.] [L. aspersus, p. p. of aspergere to
scatter, sprinkle; ad + spargere to strew. See {Sparse}.]
1. To sprinkle, as water or dust, upon anybody or anything,
   or to besprinkle any one with a liquid or with dust.
   --Heywood.
2. To bespatter with foul reports or false and injurious
   charges; to tarnish in point of reputation or good name;
   to slander or calumniate; as, to asperse a poet or his
   writings; to asperse a man's character.
         With blackest crimes aspersed.        --Cowper.
Syn: To slander; defame; detract from; calumniate; vilify.
Usage: To {Asperse}, {Defame}, {Slander}, {Calumniate}. These
       words have in common the idea of falsely assailing the
       character of another. To asperse is figuratively to
       cast upon a character hitherto unsullied the
       imputation of blemishes or faults which render it
       offensive or loathsome. To defame is to detract from a
       man's honor and reputation by charges calculated to
       load him with infamy. Slander (etymologically the same
       as scandal) and calumniate, from the Latin, have in
       common the sense of circulating reports to a man's
       injury from unworthy or malicious motives. Men asperse
       their neighbors by malignant insinuations; they defame
       by advancing charges to blacken or sully their fair
       fame; they slander or calumniate by spreading
       injurious reports which are false, or by magnifying
       slight faults into serious errors or crimes.