smell

[ smel ]

verb (used with object)

, smelled or smelt, smell·ing.

1. to perceive the odor or scent of through the nose by means of the olfactory nerves; inhale the odor of:

   I smell something burning.

2. to test by the sense of smell:

   She smelled the meat to see if it was fresh.

3. to perceive, detect, or discover by shrewdness or sagacity:

   The detective smelled foul play.

verb (used without object)

, smelled or smelt, smell·ing.

1. to perceive something by its odor or scent.
2. to search or investigate (followed by around or about ).
3. to give off or have an odor or scent:

   Do the yellow roses smell?

4. to give out an offensive odor; stink.
5. to have a particular odor (followed by of ):

   My hands smell of fish.

6. to have a trace or suggestion (followed by of ).
7. Informal. to be of inferior quality; stink:

   The play is good, but the direction smells.

8. Informal. to have the appearance or a suggestion of guilt or corruption:

   They may be honest, but the whole situation smells.

noun

1. the sense of smell; faculty of smelling.
2. the quality of a thing that is or may be smelled; odor; scent.
3. a trace or suggestion.
4. an act or instance of smelling.
5. a pervading appearance, character, quality, or influence:

   the smell of money.

verb phrase

1. to look for or detect as if by smelling; search out:

   to smell out enemy spies.

2. to fill with an offensive odor; stink up:

   The garbage smelled up the yard.

smell

/ smɛl /

verb

1. tr to perceive the scent or odour of (a substance) by means of the olfactory nerves
2. copula to have a specified smell; appear to the sense of smell to be

   some tobacco smells very sweet

   the beaches smell of seaweed

3. introften foll byof to emit an odour (of)

   the park smells of flowers

4. intr to emit an unpleasant odour; stink
5. troften foll byout to detect through shrewdness or instinct
6. intr to have or use the sense of smell; sniff
7. intrfoll byof to give indications (of)

   he smells of money

8. intr; foll by around, about, etc to search, investigate, or pry
9. copula to be or seem to be untrustworthy or corrupt
10. smell a rat
    to detect something suspicious

noun

1. that sense (olfaction) by which scents or odours are perceived olfactory
2. anything detected by the sense of smell; odour; scent
3. a trace or indication
4. the act or an instance of smelling

Derived Forms

• ˈsmeller, noun

Other Words From

• smella·ble adjective
• smell-less adjective
• outsmell verb (used with object) outsmelled or outsmelt outsmelling
• un·smelled adjective
• un·smelling adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of smell¹

First recorded in 1125–75; early Middle English smell, smull (noun), smellen, smullen (verb); origin uncertain.

Word History and Origins

Origin of smell¹

C12: of uncertain origin; compare Middle Dutch smölen to scorch

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. smell a rat. rat ( def 6 ).

More idioms and phrases containing smell

• come up (smelling like) roses
• stink (smell) to high heaven

Synonym Study

See odor.

Example Sentences

“If there’s smell, it means that somehow air has been transported to where it shouldn’t go,” Morawska said in an interview.

From Fortune

After all, they have a much better sense of smell than do people.

From Science News For Students

Newly remote workers are experimenting with scented workspaces, and their potential to make hours with an Excel spreadsheet feel, or at least smell, more like a day at the beach.

From Quartz

For now, the study doesn’t touch upon the neural highways inside the brain that lead to conscious perception of smell—an obvious next question.

From Singularity Hub 

We could end up experiencing much of life alone at home, with no privacy, forgetting the importance of the touch and smell of cultural experiences.

From Singularity Hub 

There is the smell here of an indecent rush for scapegoats, even before we know what really caused this crash.

From The Daily Beast

The smell of grilled meat mixes with the exotic wafts of cinnamon tea served with a mush of sweet brown dessert.

From The Daily Beast

There is a distinct smell of apples, which are handed out by volunteer workers.

From The Daily Beast

You can practically smell the sugar maples and wood violets.

From The Daily Beast

“J.W. heard Hayden say softly, ‘You smell good,’” the papers report.

From The Daily Beast

This gives to the second volume something of the smell of an apple store-room.

From Project Gutenberg

From early morn to early morn again, the hot winds continued, and the air was surcharged with the smell of burning plants.

From Project Gutenberg

One little girl attempted to smell at the trees in a drawing and pretended to feed some pictorial dogs.

From Project Gutenberg

Chloride of Lime … bad smell … bad egg … white of egg … fowl … grain … flour … flour and water … milk fluid … milk.

From Project Gutenberg

Surely it is not urbane to throw on another the burden of saying that he likes not the smell or the inhaling of burning tobacco.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• aroma
• bouquet
• flavor
• perfume
• scent
• stench
• stink
• trace
• whiff