Advertisement
Advertisement
smell
[smel]
verb (used with object)
to perceive the odor or scent of through the nose by means of the olfactory nerves; inhale the odor of.
I smell something burning.
to test by the sense of smell.
She smelled the meat to see if it was fresh.
to perceive, detect, or discover by shrewdness or sagacity.
The detective smelled foul play.
verb (used without object)
to perceive something by its odor or scent.
to search or investigate (followed by around orabout ).
to give off or have an odor or scent.
Do the yellow roses smell?
to give out an offensive odor; stink.
to have a particular odor (followed byof ).
My hands smell of fish.
to have a trace or suggestion (followed byof ).
Informal.Ģżto be of inferior quality; stink.
The play is good, but the direction smells.
Informal.Ģżto have the appearance or a suggestion of guilt or corruption.
They may be honest, but the whole situation smells.
noun
the sense of smell; faculty of smelling.
the quality of a thing that is or may be smelled; odor; scent.
a trace or suggestion.
an act or instance of smelling.
a pervading appearance, character, quality, or influence.
the smell of money.
verb phrase
to look for or detect as if by smelling; search out.
to smell out enemy spies.
to fill with an offensive odor; stink up.
The garbage smelled up the yard.
smell
/ ²õ³¾É±ō /
verb
(tr) to perceive the scent or odour of (a substance) by means of the olfactory nerves
(copula) to have a specified smell; appear to the sense of smell to be
the beaches smell of seaweed
some tobacco smells very sweet
to emit an odour (of)
the park smells of flowers
(intr) to emit an unpleasant odour; stink
to detect through shrewdness or instinct
(intr) to have or use the sense of smell; sniff
to give indications (of)
he smells of money
(intr; foll by around, about, etc) to search, investigate, or pry
(copula) to be or seem to be untrustworthy or corrupt
to detect something suspicious
noun
that sense (olfaction) by which scents or odours are perceived
anything detected by the sense of smell; odour; scent
a trace or indication
the act or an instance of smelling
Other 51³Ō¹Ļ Forms
- smellable adjective
- smell-less adjective
- outsmell verb (used with object)
- unsmelled adjective
- unsmelling adjective
- Ė²õ³¾±š±ō±ō±š°ł noun
51³Ō¹Ļ History and Origins
Origin of smell1
51³Ō¹Ļ History and Origins
Origin of smell1
Idioms and Phrases
Synonym Study
Example Sentences
They like their homes, their neighborhoods, their familiar smells and routines.
Since the crash, a foul, acrid smell has hung over the area as smoke billowed from the wreckage late into the night.
She stops to smell whatever there is to smell.
"It's fantastic. It's very good. The smell of milk is coming over is nice. It's fluffy. It's refreshing... Reminds me of some kind of snack when I was younger that I was bringing to school."
The 57-year-old former Olympic athlete is said to have smelled of alcohol, slurred her words and failed a field sobriety test.
Advertisement
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Ā© Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American HeritageĀ® Idioms Dictionary copyright Ā© 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse