reek Definition
reek (rēk)
noun
- vapor; fume
- a strong, unpleasant smell; stench
- Scot., North Eng. smoke
Etymology: ME < OE rec, akin to ON reykr, Ger rauch < ? IE base *reug-, cloud, smoke
intransitive verb
- to give off steam or smoke
- to have a strong, offensive smell
- to be permeated with anything very unpleasant
Etymology: ME reken < OE reocan
transitive verb
- to expose to the action of smoke or fumes
- to emit or exude (vapor, fumes, etc.)
reek Related Forms
reek′y adjective
reek Synonyms
reek Synonyms
reek Usage Examples
Preposition: of
- booze: Ten to one he'll stagger in reeking of booze.
- smoke: It literally reeked of stale smoke - more like the pub than a bedroom.
- desperation: Many of these films reek of the desperation of forty years spent trying to get the message across to these idiots.
- hypocrisy: Some of their colleagues think this reeks of hypocrisy.
- garlic: You will reek of garlic for days but it shouldn't matter if she loves you.
- tobacco: For a beginner reeked of tobacco himself into a player trail too.
Object
- havoc: We then continued the motion reeking havoc on the normally tranquil city of Milton Keynes.
- revenge: Poseidon wasn't happy about this and called upon the king of the gods, Zeus, to reek a terrible revenge.
- o: Thick reeks the storm o ' night Round him that steers the ship.
- exhalation: From the open door there reeked a horrible poisonous exhalation which set us gasping and coughing.
Preposition: with
- filth: The woman had a black eye, and was in a wretched condition, whilst the house was reeking with filth and dirt.
- blood: Who is there, that if his hands do not reek with human blood, is not soiled with foul impurities?
- stench: I inspected several very closely and found them reeking with stench and the worst sort of abomination.
Modifying Another Word
- positively: Needless to say, the demo positively reeks of quality.
- just: Or maybe the whole thing just reeks of the barbaric... Will this stop people dying for things they believe in?
- all: Your clothes, your hair, your breath, your fingers - even your skin - all reek.
- still: I looked out that pair from the bottom of my wardrobe last week -- they still reek.
- not: I speak from 15 years of experience in this There has never yet been an attacker who was not reeking with crime.
- simply: It was simply reeking with cholera germs, having a mud floor that had become saturated with filth.
Followed by an intransitive particle
up: Not far away giant funeral pyres send the last hopes of much of the farming industry reeking up to heaven.
Browse dictionary entries near reek
- ‹ reefer
- ‹ reef knot
- ‹ reef
- ‹ reedy
- ‹ reeducate
- ‹ reedman
- ‹ reeding
- ‹ reedbuck
- ‹ reedbird
- ‹ reed stop
- reel ›
- reel off ›
- reel-to-reel ›
- reenforce ›
- reenter ›
- reentrant ›
- reentrant angle ›
- reentry ›
- Rees-Mogg,William Rees-Mogg, Baron ›
- reestablish ›

