smell
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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[edit] English
[edit] Etymology
From Middle English smellen, smyllen, smullen; compare Dutch smeulen, cognate to Low German smölen, smelen (“to smolder”); Danish smul (“dust, powder”). Compare smolder, smother.
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Noun
smell (countable and uncountable; plural smells)
- A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance.
- I love the smell of fresh bread.
- 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
- The penetrating smell of cabbage reached the nose of Toad as he lay prostrate in his misery on the floor, and gave him the idea for a moment that perhaps life was not such a blank and desperate thing as he had imagined. But still he wailed, and kicked with his legs, and refused to be comforted. So the wise girl retired for the time, but, of course, a good deal of the smell of hot cabbage remained behind, as it will do, and Toad, between his sobs, sniffed and reflected, and gradually began to think new and inspiring thoughts: of chivalry, and poetry...
- (physiology) The sense that detects odours.
[edit] Usage notes
- Adjectives often applied to "smell": sweet, good, nice, great, pleasant, fresh, fragrant, bad, foul, unpleasant, horrible, terrible, awful, nasty, disgusting, funny, strange, odd, sour, funky, metallic, stinky, rotten, rancid, putrid, rank, fishy.
[edit] Synonyms
- (sensation):
- (sense): olfaction (in technical use), sense of smell
- See also Wikisaurus:smell
[edit] Translations
sensation
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sense
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[edit] Verb
smell (third-person singular simple present smells, present participle smelling, simple past and past participle smelled or smelt)
- (transitive) To sense a smell or smells.
- I can smell fresh bread.
- Smell the milk and tell me whether it's gone off.
- (transitive, followed by like or of) To have the smell (of).
- His feet smell of cheese.
- The bum smelt like a brewery.
- (intransitive) To have a particular smell, whether good or bad.
- The roses smell lovely.
[edit] Synonyms
[edit] Translations
sense a smell or smells
have the smell of
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have a particular smell
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
[edit] Derived terms
Terms derived from the noun or verb smell
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- smell in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
- smell in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
