smell
Pronunciation: /smɛl/
noun
- the faculty or power of perceiving odours or scents by means of the organs in the nose: a highly developed sense of smell dogs locate the bait by smell
-
- an unpleasant odour: twenty-seven cats lived there—you can imagine the smell!
- an act of inhaling in order to ascertain an odour or scent: have a smell of this
verb ( past and past participle smelt /smɛlt/ or smelled)
- 1
- sniff at (something) in order to perceive or detect its odour or scent: the dogs smell each other
- (smell something out) detect or discover something by the faculty of smell: his nose can smell out an animal from ten miles away
- detect or suspect (something) by means of instinct or intuition: he can smell trouble long before it gets serious he can smell out weakness in others
- 2
- have a strong or unpleasant odour: if I don’t get a bath soon I’ll start to smell it smells in here
- appear in a certain way; be suggestive of something: it smells like a hoax to me
Phrases
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smell blood
- discern weakness or vulnerability in an opponent: the leader of the opposition, who smelt blood, accused the government of the biggest tax hike ever
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smell a rat
- informal begin to suspect trickery or deception: when he died, investigators were called in and soon smelt a rat
-
smell the roses
- North American informal enjoy or appreciate what is often ignored: they need to wake up and smell the roses
Origin:
Middle English: of unknown origin
The past tense and past participle of smell are both either smelled or smelt, and both forms are equally correct. Smelt is slightly preferred in British English, and smelled in American.