A smearer is a signal conditioning circuit that intentionally slows down the extremely fast rising or falling edges of a pulse. By reducing the high-frequency content of the transition, it prevents overshoot and ringing that could otherwise cause false triggering or damage sensitive downstream components. It essentially smears the sharp edge into a more gradual slope.
Put a smearer on that clock line before it hits the flip-flop, because the overshoot is causing double-triggering.
Related terms
Pulse
A rapid, transient change in voltage or current from a baseline value and back again.
Rise time
The time required for a signal to transition from a specified low state to a specified high state.
Schmitt trigger
A comparator circuit that uses positive feedback to create hysteresis, converting noisy analog signals into clean digital pulses.