asperse

Founding-era definition · Webster's 1828 American Dictionary

ASPERSE, verb transitive aspers'. [Latin aspergo, aspersus, of ad and spargo, to scatter.] 1. 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 of his writings; to asperse a character. 2. To cast upon.
Source: Webster's 1828 American Dictionary ↗ · public-domain · returned verbatim, no AI

More founding-era words: liberty · virtue · republic · justice · providence · commerce · militia · arms · prudence · establishment · religion · usurpation · tyranny · citizen · unalienable · sovereign