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smell

smell

37 1.0
The ability to notice and recognize scents with the nose
  • noun
  • /smɛl/
: olfato
  • Just then, Casimir's nose picked up the sweet smell of prey a mile or so distant.
  • sense of smell
  • smell and taste
  • acute sense of smell

Your vision, your hearing, your smell, your taste, and your touch.

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Examples

  • Until I die, that smell will be ingrained in my senses.

  • A sharpening of the sense of smell was another effect of pregnancy, apparently.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • All right, the power of smell is something serious.

  • Superior sense of smell, my friend.

  • A poet with a sense of smell.

  • The gray summer darkness rose up with the smell of the water.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • My eyesight is terrible, but my sense of smell is abnormally good.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • It retains the memory of the smell of her infant son's hair.

  • What's that smell?

  • Dogs are known for their exceptional sense of smell, which allows them to track scents over long distances.

Synonyms

sense of smell
vssmell
29 2.8

The ability to notice and tell scents apart with the nose

includes detection by the brain as well as by the nose and identification
olfaction
vssmell
1 8.4

The sense that lets you smell and tell smells apart

is the general everyday term rather than a technical name
olfactory modality
vssmell
  • Specialized
8.3

The sense that lets people smell and tell different scents apart

is the common biological faculty term used in general descriptions

Idioms

to smell blood
  • Informal
9 7.4

To see someone's weakness and act quickly to get an advantage

to smell fishy
  • Informal
5 6.8

To seem suspicious or dishonest

To take time to enjoy small pleasant things in life

Realize an unpleasant truth and stop ignoring it

3 7.8

Seem honest and believable when people check it

smell you later
  • Informal
3 9.9

To say goodbye in a playful, joking way

3 6.1

To appear in a good way after a problem

1 9.7

To feel the end of a trip or task is near

A sign that someone works late and studies hard, or the smell of an oil lamp

To have a strong, unpleasant scent of old heavy perfume and dampness

Compounds

The ability to notice and tell scents apart with the nose

A pleasant smell inside a brand new car

4 3.8

A quick check to see if something seems right, sometimes by its scent

A feeling that you have done well and feel proud

3 3.4

A bad, stale smell from damp or old things

A strong sharp smell that makes your eyes water

2 2.6

A strong unpleasant smell like fish

A way to make people smell scents while watching films or TV

A smell that stays for a long time

1 5.1

An unpleasant damp smell in places like basements or cellars

yucky smell
  • Informal
1 5.6

A strong, nasty smell like rotten food that makes you feel sick

dank smell
  • NSFW
1 9.6

A strong smell of cannabis smoke or buds

pestilential smell
  • Literature
1 9.4

A very strong bad air that makes you think of rotting things or disease

A feeling that something is fresh and new, not a real smell

How Sensitive

keen nose
1 5.1
smell
37 1.0
olfactory impairment
  • Specialized
1 7.4
anosmia
  • Specialized
1 9.3

Surface Forms

smell singular
smells plural

Etymology

Smell comes from the old English word smellan, which meant 'to sniff' or notice an odor, so the word has long been about the nose and its power. That's why smell can mean the ability to detect scents.