smell

Smell is the sense by which people take in scents through their nose, or an odor or the act of sensing or giving off an odor.

(noun)

  1. An example of smell is how people sniff out what is cooking in the kitchen.
  2. An example of a smell is the scent of homemade cookies.

To smell is defined as to take in or give off a scent.

(verb)

An example of to smell is to breathe in the scent of fresh flowers.

YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2013 by LoveToKnow Corp.

See smell in Webster's New World College Dictionary

transitive verb smelled or Brit.smelt, smelling

  1. to be or become aware of by means of the nose and the olfactory nerves; detect the scent or odor of
  2. to sense the presence or existence of: to smell trouble
  3. to test by the scent or odor; sniff: smell the milk to tell if it's sour

Origin: ME smellen < OE *smyllan < IE base *smel-, to burn slowly > smolder: basic sense “to give off smoke”

intransitive verb

  1. to use the sense of smell; sniff: often with at or of
    1. to have or emit a scent or odor: flowers that do not smell
    2. to have or emit an unpleasant odor; stink
  2. to have the odor or a suggestion (of): breath that smells of garlic
  3. Informal
    1. to lack ability, worth, etc.; be of poor quality
    2. to be foul, corrupt, mean, etc.

noun

  1. that one of the five senses of the body by which a substance is perceived through the chemical stimulation of the olfactory nerves in the nasal cavity by particles given off by that substance
  2. the characteristic stimulation of any specific substance upon the olfactory nerves; odor; scent
  3. an act of smelling
  4. that which suggests the presence or existence of something; trace; suggestion

Origin: ME smel

Related Forms:

See smell in American Heritage Dictionary 4

verb smelled smelled or smelt (smĕlt), smell·ing, smells
verb, transitive
  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.
verb, intransitive
  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.
noun
  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.

Origin:

Origin: Middle English smellen

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