smell test
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From smell (noun) + test (noun).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsmɛl tɛst/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈsmɛl ˌtɛst/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
[edit]smell test (plural smell tests)
- (physiology) An assessment of a subject's ability to detect and distinguish odors.
- Synonym: nose test
- 1990, K. A. Fackelmann, “Smokers Suffer from Impaired Smell”, in Science News, volume 137, number 9, page 134:
- Although scientists have yet to pin down any biological basis for cigarette smokers' impaired performance on the smell test, Doty says he suspects that certain chemicals in smoke . . . damage the olfactory receptor cells in the nose.
- Synonym of sniff test.
- An inspection of an object by smelling it, as for cleanliness of clothing or freshness of food.
- Synonym: nose test
- 2006 October 25, Olivia Wu, “It’s a Hairy Crab Extravaganza”, in San Francisco Chronicle[1], archived from the original on 28 February 2014:
- I give the smell test to many foods when I shop.
- (figurative) An informal check of whether an idea or proposal is credible, ethical, etc., using one's common sense or sense of propriety.
- 1994 May 6, Todd Purdum, “New Yorkers in Congress at war with a lawyer”, in The New York Times[2], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 3 February 2023:
- It just doesn't pass the smell test. It just creates too many opportunities for cutting corners, doing unethical things and basically not telling the truth.
- 2009 January 25, Harvey Araton, “Tear down stadium and build up the Bronx”, in The New York Times[3], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 November 2022:
- These aren’t the first megadeals cut by politicians that do not pass the smell test, but nobody has been swindled like the Yankee Stadium community.
- An inspection of an object by smelling it, as for cleanliness of clothing or freshness of food.
Translations
[edit](physiology) assessment of the sense of smell
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synonym of sniff test — see sniff test