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Smell

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smell

  [smel] verb, smelled or smelt, smell⋅ing, noun
Use Smell in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
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)
4. to perceive something by its odor or scent.
5. to search or investigate (fol. by around or about).
6. to give off or have an odor or scent: Do the yellow roses smell?
7. to give out an offensive odor; stink.
8. to have a particular odor (fol. by of): My hands smell of fish.
9. to have a trace or suggestion (fol. by of).
10. Informal. to be of inferior quality; stink: The play is good, but the direction smells.
11. Informal. to have the appearance or a suggestion of guilt or corruption: They may be honest, but the whole situation smells.
–noun
12. the sense of smell; faculty of smelling.
13. the quality of a thing that is or may be smelled; odor; scent.
14. a trace or suggestion.
15. an act or instance of smelling.
16. a pervading appearance, character, quality, or influence: the smell of money.
—Verb phrases
17. smell out, to look for or detect as if by smelling; search out: to smell out enemy spies.
18. smell up, to fill with an offensive odor; stink up: The garbage smelled up the yard.
—Idiom
19. smell a rat. rat (def. 6).
Origin:
1125–75; early ME smell, smull (n.), smellen, smullen (v.) < ?

Related forms:
smell⋅a⋅ble, adjective
smell-less, adjective

Synonyms:
13. See odor.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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smell   (směl)   
v.   smelled or smelt (smělt), smell·ing, smells

v.   tr.

  1. To perceive the scent of (something) by means of the olfactory nerves.

  2. To sense the presence of by or as if by the olfactory nerves; detect or discover: We smelled trouble ahead. The committee tried to smell out corruption in law enforcement.

v.   intr.

  1. To use the sense of smell; perceive the scent of something.

  2. To have or emit an odor: "The breeze smelled exactly like Vouvray—flowery, with a hint of mothballs underneath" (Anne Tyler).

  3. To be suggestive; have a touch of something: a cave that smells of terror.

  4. To have or emit an unpleasant odor; stink: This closet smells.

  5. To appear to be dishonest; suggest evil or corruption.

n.  

  1. The sense by which odors are perceived; the olfactory sense.

  2. That quality of something that may be perceived by the olfactory sense.

  3. The act or an instance of smelling.

  4. A distinctive enveloping or characterizing quality; an aura or trace: the smell of success.


[Middle English smellen.]
Synonyms: These nouns denote a quality that can be perceived by the olfactory sense: the smell of gas; the aroma of frying onions; hospital odors; the scent of pine needles.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

smell  (v.)
c.1175, "emit or perceive an odor," also n., "odor, aroma, stench," not found in O.E., perhaps cognate with M.Du. smolen, Low Ger. smelen "to smolder" (see smolder). OED says "no doubt of O.E. origin, but not recorded, and not represented in any of the cognate languages." Ousted O.E. stenc (see stench) in most senses. Someone should revive smell-feast (n.) "one who scents out where free food is to be had" (1519, "very common" c.1540-1700, OED) and smell-smock "licentious man" (c.1550-1900). To smell a rat "be suspicious" is from 1550.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: 1smell
Pronunciation: 'smel
Function: verb
Inflected Forms: smelled /'smeld/ or smelt /'smelt/;smell·ing
transitive senses
: to perceive the odor or scent of through stimuli affecting the olfactory nerves : get the odor or scent of with the nosesmell intransitive senses
: to exercise the sense of smell

Main Entry: 2smell
Function: noun
1 : the property of a thing that affects the olfactory organs : ODOR
2 : the special sense concerned with the perception of odor
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

smell (směl)
v. smelled or smelt (smělt), smell·ing, smells
To perceive the scent of something by means of the olfactory nerves. n.
The sense by which odors are perceived; the olfactory sense.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Idioms & Phrases

smell

In addition to the idioms beginning with smell, also see come up (smelling like) roses; stink (smell) to high heaven.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Encyclopedia

smell

the detection and identification by sensory organs of airborne chemicals. The concept of smell, as it applies to humans, becomes less distinct when invertebrates and lower vertebrates (fish and amphibians) are considered, because many lower animals detect chemicals in the environment by means of receptors in various locations on the body, and no invertebrate possesses a chemoreceptive structure resembling the vertebrate nasal cavity. For this reason, many authorities prefer to regard smell as distance chemoreception and taste as contact chemoreception.

Learn more about smell with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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