schmeer, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

schmeer n.

also schmear, shmear

[lit. and fig. uses of Yid. schmir, to apply ointment, to lubricate]

(US)

1. a bribe.

[1938		Reading (PA) Eagle 20 Mar. 7/3: A five dollar bill is a ’finskie’ a nickel is a ‘jit’ and a half a dollar is ‘half a schnooze’ ‘half a schmier’ or a ‘half a rock’].
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 185/1: Schmear, n. 1. A bribe.
1961		A. Berkman Singers’ Gloss. of Show Business Jargon 78: Shmear, [...] payola; graft [OED].
1977		D. Powis Signs of Crime 200: Schmeer Bribe.

2. a daub or spread of butter, cream cheese etc.

1966		in Newark (OH) Advocate 21 May 3/3–4: shmear — cream cheese.
1986		C. Stroud Close Pursuit (1988) 157: Barreled right into him, spread him out like a bialy widda shmeer, huh?
2014		R.W. Hart ‘How to Make the Perfect New York Bagel’ in ThugLit Jan. [ebook] ‘Where's my schmear?’ ‘Go schmear yourself, Paulie’.

3. political or other influence.

1967

L. Bruce Essential Lenny Bruce 171: The juice | The fix | The schmeer | The In.

In phrases

whole schmeer (n.) (also whole schmear, …shmear, …shmeer, …smear) [SE whole + fig. use of sense 1 above; despite ety. of v., authorities claim that whole schmeer is not Yid.; Nathan Süsskind (Cohen, 1991) suggests Ger. Schmiere, a small, insignificant and third-rate piece of art or performance. Extended to the artist or theatre company that produces it, and thence to the company, its props, and everything it possesses; thus whole schmeer = whole kit and caboodle under whole kit n. = everything; note Rosten, The Joys of Yiddish (1968), who includes v. but does not mention n.]

(US) everything, the whole lot; everyone.

1890		Holt Co. Sentinel 8 Aug. 1/8: Just like them, the whole ‘smear’ would come swarming in.
1903		Brotherhood of Loco. Firemen and Enginemen’s Mag. 35 549/1: The retainer won't make 15 pounds; and if you had it, 15 pounds don’t fry no eggs with 63 cars of air, and loads ahead and a whole smear of empty flats behind.
1909		Green Bk Mag. 2 145: Waiter, one check for the whole smear, it's all on me.
1912		R.W. Brown ‘Word-List From Western Indiana’ in DN III:viii 593: whole smear, n. The entire crowd. ‘The whole smear went down to see the wreck.’.
1914		Ade ‘The New Fable of the Aerial Performer’ in Ade’s Fables 202: While in this dotty State and quite irresponsible, he directed the Manager to close out the whole Smear and sell short.
1937		(con. WW1) E.C. Parsons Great Adventure 294: [H]e was quite convinced that between them they could have gotten the whole smear [i.e. of enemy aircraft] .
1949		Monteleone Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 237: the whole smear The entire group or mob; everyone.
1969		in Current Sl. IV:3–4 (1970).
1969		E. Stewart Heads 48: But why couldn’t you burrow around and ferret out the whole shmear yourself?
1970		T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 150: You know, big hoop skirt, eight petticoats, high-button shoes, monstro hairpiece, the whole schmear.
1975		L. Rosten Dear ‘Herm’ 134: I sure wish I could dictate this whole shmeer to a Secretary.
1977		C. McFadden Serial 19: What really gets me about the whole schmeer [...] is what’s gonna happen to the doctor-patient relationship.
1991		R.G. Barrett Between the Devlin 103: Norton [...] gave Billy the whole smear.
1992		D. Burke Street Talk 2 156: Just bring the whole schmear over here.
2009		J. Stahl Pain Killers 26: He ties little boxes to his head with leather straps, the whole schmear.
2018		T. Pluck ‘Hot Rod Heart’ in Life During Wartime 108: Might as well give it the whole schmear and win back his Stude from that Kraut son of a bitch.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 110: ‘Update me. The film [...] the whole schmear’.