smell
Other forms: smells; smelled
Smell is one of your five senses—the one you use your nose for. Dogs have such a sharp sense of smell that they can sniff out things like explosives and drugs.
Your sense of smell gives you important information, like "this milk is sour," or "I need a shower." An individual odor or scent is also a smell, and to perceive it with your nose is to smell it. If someone says, "You smell," it's not a compliment—what they mean is, "You don't smell good." While experts believe that smell has an Old English root, it was never recorded.
Definitions of smell
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the faculty that enables us to distinguish scents
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synonyms:
olfaction, olfactory modality, sense of smell
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types:
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nose
the sense of smell (especially in animals)
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type of:
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modality, sense modality, sensory system
a particular sense
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exteroception
sensitivity to stimuli originating outside of the body
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nose
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the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form“she loved the smell of roses”
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synonyms:
odor, odour, olfactory perception, olfactory sensation
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types:
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scent
an odor left in passing by which a person or animal can be traced
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aroma, fragrance, perfume, scent
a distinctive odor that is pleasant
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fetor, foetor, malodor, malodour, mephitis, reek, stench, stink
a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant
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acridity
having an acrid smell
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musk
the scent of a greasy glandular secretion from the male musk deer
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incense
the pleasing scent produced when incense is burned
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niff, pong
an unpleasant smell
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petrichor
a pleasant, earthly smell associated with rain, especially after a period of dry, warm weather
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type of:
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aesthesis, esthesis, sensation, sense datum, sense experience, sense impression
an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation
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the act of perceiving the odor of something
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synonyms:
smelling
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type of:
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perception, sensing
becoming aware of something via the senses
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perception, sensing
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any property detected by the olfactory system
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synonyms:
aroma, odor, odour, olfactory property, scent
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types:
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bouquet, fragrance, fragrancy, redolence, sweetness
a pleasingly sweet olfactory property
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fetidness, foulness, malodorousness, rankness, stinkiness
the attribute of having a strong offensive smell
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muskiness
having the olfactory properties of musk
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rancidness
the property of being rancid
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tang
a pungent and distinctive odor
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B.O., body odor, body odour
malodorousness resulting from a failure to bathe
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type of:
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property
a basic or essential attribute shared by all members of a class
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inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense
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types:
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sniff, whiff
perceive by inhaling through the nose
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nose, scent, wind
catch the scent of; get wind of
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snuff, snuffle
sniff or smell inquiringly
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get a noseful, get a whiff
smell strongly and intensely
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type of:
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comprehend, perceive
become aware of through the senses
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emit an odor“The soup smells good”
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type of:
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cause to be perceived
have perceptible qualities
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cause to be perceived
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smell bad
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the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people“it had the smell of treason”
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types:
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Hollywood
a flashy vulgar tone or atmosphere believed to be characteristic of the American film industry
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Zeitgeist
the spirit of the time; the spirit characteristic of an age or generation
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type of:
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ambiance, ambience, atmosphere
a particular environment or surrounding influence
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Hollywood
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have an element suggestive (of something)“this passage smells of plagiarism”
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type of:
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evoke, paint a picture, suggest
call to mind
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evoke, paint a picture, suggest
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become aware of not through the senses but instinctively
Pronunciation
US
/smɛl/
UK
/smɛl/
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