👃 To detect a scent 👃 Ability to detect scents 🦨 To have an odor 🦨 An odor 🕵️ To sense suspicion 🌫️ A feeling in the air 💻 A software problem

to smell

∞ 1.0

To notice a scent with your nose

verb
/smɛl/

: oler

When I entered the kitchen, I immediately smelled freshly baked bread.
taste and smell
smell the perfume
touch and smell

I don't know, Doesn't really smell like anything weird.

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Examples

The breeze or something, but I smelled water, just water, the freshest smell ever.

Fiction book (1990)
At a distance of ten feet, I could smell the man: woodsmoke, sweat, and cheap scent.

Fiction book (1990)
OK, well, I can smell, I can smell smoke.
Because I can smell it.

All of Us Strangers (2023)
You can almost smell the action and money!

The Hustler (1961)
I wish you could smell this right now, Heath.
I have come back to touch, taste, and smell the wonders of my native land.

Academic text (1992)
I could smell that honeysuckle again.

Double Indemnity (1944)
All signs are that the biotech tomatoes look, smell, and taste like other fresh-picked tomatoes.

Academic text (1996)
Our house was built in 1790 and smelled like old hardwood beams.

Academic text (2001)

Synonyms

to sniff

vsto smell

266 1.0

To breathe in through the nose to smell something or because of a cold

is general perception not the specific breathing action

to sniff out

vsto smell

Informal

15 4.0

Find something by searching, often by smell

is passive detection not active searching for something

to get a whiff

vsto smell

11 4.7

Smell something briefly, often a strong scent

is broader detection over time not a brief or sudden notice

to scent

vsto smell

5 3.5

To use the sense of smell to find something, often by animals

is the general human-focused action of sensing odor

to catch a whiff

vsto smell

4 5.1

To notice a small smell of something for a short time

is fuller sustained sensing not a brief slight notice

to nose

vsto smell

3 5.0

To find something by sniffing around

is about simple perception rather than searching or investigating

to scent out

vsto smell

5.6

To find something by smell or by careful searching

is the base action of perceiving odor not implying discovery

Idioms

to pass the smell test

Informal

3 7.8

Seem honest and believable when people check it

to stop and smell the roses

Informal

3 4.6

To take time to enjoy small pleasant things in life

to wake up and smell the coffee

Informal

3 7.3

Realize an unpleasant truth and stop ignoring it

to smell blood

Informal

2 7.4

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

to smell fishy

Informal

2 6.8

To seem suspicious or dishonest

to smell like a rose

Informal

2 6.1

To appear in a good way after a problem

smell of the lamp

9.9

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

to smell the barn

Informal

9.7

To feel the end of a trip or task is near

to smell like a tart's handbag

NSFW

9.9

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

smell you later

Informal

9.9

To say goodbye in a playful, joking way

Phrasal Verbs

to smell out

2 5.1

Find something hidden by noticing small signs

to smell up

1 7.5

Make a place or thing smell bad

Compounds

sense of smell

27 2.8

The ability to notice and tell scents apart with the nose

smell test

4 3.8

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

new-car smell

3 3.7

A pleasant smell inside a brand new car

musty smell

2 3.4

A bad, stale smell from damp or old things

fishy smell

2 2.6

A strong unpleasant smell like fish

pungent smell

1 3.3

A strong sharp smell that makes your eyes water

lingering smell

1 3.2

A smell that stays for a long time

smell of success

1 3.9

A feeling that you have done well and feel proud

new-car smell

1 4.1

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

dank smell

5.1

An unpleasant damp smell in places like basements or cellars

dank smell

NSFW

9.6

A strong smell of cannabis smoke or buds

pestilential smell

Literature

9.4

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

smell-o-vision

9.9

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

yucky smell

Informal

5.6

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

How Strong

to inhale

84 2.7

to smell

∞ 1.0

to catch a whiff

4 5.1

Surface Forms

smell infinitive

smelled past

smelled past participle

smelling present participle

smells third person singular

Etymology

Smell (to perceive a scent) comes from the old English smellan, 'to sniff', so it literally means using your nose to notice an odor.