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smells - 2 dictionary results
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Smells Definition
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smell

  [smel] verb, smelled or smelt, smell⋅ing, noun
Use smells 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.
Cite This Source Link To smells
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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