smell
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
English
Etymology
Etymology tree
From Middle English smellen, smillen, smyllen, smullen, from Old English *smyllan, *smiellan (“to smell, emit fumes”), from Proto-West Germanic *smallijan (“to glow, burn, smoulder”), from Proto-Indo-European *smel- (“to burn, smoke, smoulder; tar, pitch”). The noun is from Middle English smel, smil, smul (“smell, odour”). Related to Saterland Frisian smeele (“to smoulder”), Middle Dutch smōlen (“to burn, smoulder”) (whence Dutch smeulen (“to smoulder”)), Middle Low German smölen (“to be hazy, be dusty”) (whence Low German smölen (“smoulder”)), Low German smullen (“emit smoke”), West Flemish smoel (“stuffy, muggy, hazy”), Danish smul (“dust, powder”), Lithuanian smilkyti (“to incense, fumigate”), Lithuanian smilkti (“to smudge, smolder, fume, reek”), Lithuanian smalkinti (“to fume”), Middle Irish smál, smól, smúal (“fire, gleed, embers, ashes”), Russian смола́ (smolá, “resin, tar”). Compare smoulder, smother.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation, General American) enPR: smĕl, IPA(key): /smɛl/
Audio (General American): (file) - Rhymes: -ɛl
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 October, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, →OCLC:
- 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.
- A conclusion or intuition that a situation is wrong, more complex than it seems, or otherwise inappropriate.
- 2018 February 8, Carl Schroers, chapter 8, in Wrestling with Time Lost, Lulu Press:
- I’m just saying, this has a bad smell to it.
Synonyms
- (sensation): see Thesaurus:smell
- (sense): olfaction (in technical use), sense of smell
Hyponyms
- bad smell
- code smell
- good smell
Derived terms
Collocations
(Collocations):
- Adjectives often applied to "smell": acrid, awful, bad, disgusting, fishy, foul, fragrant, fresh, funny, funky, good, great, horrible, metallic, musty, nasty, nice, odd, pervasive, penetrating, pleasant, powerful, pungent, putrid, rancid, rank, rotten, sour, spoilt, salty, strange, stinky, strong, sweet, terrible, unpleasant.
Translations
sensation
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sense of smell
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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.
- (by extension) To detect or perceive; often with out.
- c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]:
- I smell a device.
- (by extension) To detect or perceive; often with out.
- (intransitive, copulative) Followed by like or of if descriptive: to have a particular smell, whether good or bad.
- Synonyms: (informal) pong, reek, stink, (informal; these words refer to unpleasant smells) whiff
- The roses smell lovely.
- Her feet smell of cheese.
- The drunkard smelt like a brewery.
- 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter VIII, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:
- Philander went into the next room […] and came back with a salt mackerel […] . Next he put the mackerel in a fry-pan, and the shanty began to smell like a Banks boat just in from a v'yage.
- (by extension, intransitive, copulative) To smell of; to have a smell of
- 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
- I do smell all horse-piss
- (intransitive, without a modifier) To smell bad; to stink.
- Ew, this stuff smells.
- (intransitive, figurative) To have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savour.
- A report smells of calumny.
- 1649, J[ohn] Milton, ΕΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΆΣΤΗΣ [Eikonoklástēs] […], London: […] Matthew Simmons, […], →OCLC:
- Praises in an enemy are superfluous, or smell of craft.
- 2021, Taylor Swift (lyrics and music), “No Body, No Crime”:
- Este's been losing sleep / Her husband's acting different and it smells like infidelity
- (obsolete) To give heed to.
- 1552, Hughe Latymer [i.e., Hugh Latimer], Augustine Bernher, compiler, “[The First Sermon]”, in Certayn Godly Sermons, Made uppon the Lords Prayer, […], London: […] John Day, […], published 1562, →OCLC, folio 5, verso:
- So from that tyme forwarde I began to ſmell the word of god, and forſoke the ſchole doctors and ſuch foolries.
Usage notes
- The sense “to smell bad, stink” is considered by some to be an incorrect (euphemistic) substitute for stink.
Derived terms
- besmell
- come out smelling like a rose
- come out smelling of roses
- come up smelling like a rose
- come up smelling of roses
- foul-smelling
- sense of smell (see olfaction)
- smell a fox
- smell a rat
- smell blood
- smell blood in the water
- smell fishy
- smelling bottle
- smelling salt
- smell like a rose
- smell like a tart's bedroom
- smell like a tart's boudoir
- smell like a tart's handbag
- smell like a tart's handkerchief
- smell of an oily rag
- smell of the lamp
- smell of the shop
- smell out
- smell test
- smell the barn
- smell the coffee
- smell the roses
- smell up
- smell what someone is stepping in
- smelly
- smell ya later, smell you later
- smock-smelling
- stop and smell the flowers
- stop and smell the roses
- stop to smell the roses
- sweet-smelling
- wake up and smell the ashes
- wake up and smell the coffee
- wake up and smell the roses
Translations
sense with nose
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to have a particular smell, whether good or bad; if descriptive, followed by "like" or "of"
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
See also
References
- William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “smell”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
- “smell”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
Icelandic
Verb
smell (strong)
Verb
smell (weak)
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
From the verb smelle.
Noun
smell n (definite singular smellet, indefinite plural smell, definite plural smella or smellene)
smell m (definite singular smellen, indefinite plural smell or smeller, definite plural smellene)
- a bang (sudden loud noise)
References
- “smell” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
Norwegian Nynorsk
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
From the verb smelle.
Noun
smell n (definite singular smellet, indefinite plural smell, definite plural smella)
smell m (definite singular smellen, indefinite plural smellar, definite plural smellane)
- a bang (sudden loud noise)
Etymology 2
Noun
smell m (definite singular smellen, indefinite plural smellar, definite plural smellane)
References
- “smell” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.
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