Informal.an unpleasant fuss; scandal: There was a big stink about his accepting a bribe.
8.
stinks, ( used with a singular verb ) British Slang.chemistry as a course of study.
Verb phrases
9.
stink out, to repel or drive out by means of a highly offensive smell.
Origin: before 900; (v.) Middle Englishstinken,Old Englishstincan; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the v.; cognate with Germanstinken. (v.); cf. stench
Related forms
out·stink, verb (used with object), out·stank or, often out·stunk; out·stunk; out·stink·ing.
O.E. stincan "emit a smell of any kind" (class III strong verb; past tense stonc), from W.Gmc. *stenkwanan (cf. O.S. stincan, O.H.G. stinkan, Du. stinken), from the root of stench. O.E. swote stincan "to smell sweet," but offensive sense began O.E. and was primary by mid-13c.;
smell now tends the same way. Figurative meaning "be offensive" is from early 13c.; meaning "be inept" is recorded from 1924. The noun is attested from c.1300; sense of "extensive fuss" first recorded 1812. Stinking in ref. to "drunk" first attested 1887; stinking rich dates from 1956. To stink to high heaven first recorded 1963. Stinker as a term of abuse (often banteringly) is attested from c.1600; also in the same sense was stinkard (c.1600).
in. to be repellent; to be suspicious and poorly planned. (Of schemes and plots.) : This whole setup stinks.
n. a commotion. (See also raise a stink (about (so/sth) ).) : The stink you made about money has done no good at all. You're fired.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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