Skip to definition.
Get the FREE one-click dictionary software for Windows or the iPhone/iPad and Android apps


Verb: smell (smelt, also smelled)  smel
  1. Inhale the odour of; perceive by the olfactory sense
     
  2. Emit an odour
    "The soup smells good"
     
  3. Have a bad odour
    "He rarely washes, and he smells"
     
  4. Have an element suggestive (of something)
    "this passage smells of plagiarism";
    - smack, reek
     
  5. Become aware of not through the senses but instinctively
    "I smell trouble"; "smell out corruption";
    - smell out, sense
Noun: smell  smel
  1. The sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
    "she loved the smell of roses";
    - odor [US], odour [Brit, Cdn], olfactory sensation, olfactory perception
     
  2. Any property detected by the olfactory system
    - olfactory property, aroma, odor [US], odour [Brit, Cdn], scent
     
  3. The general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people
    "it had the smell of treason";
    - spirit, tone, feel, feeling, flavor [US], flavour [Brit, Cdn], look
     
  4. The faculty that enables us to distinguish scents
    - sense of smell, olfaction, olfactory modality
     
  5. The act of perceiving the odour of something
    - smelling

Derived forms: smelled, smelling, smelt, smells

See also: inodorous, odorless [US], odorous, odourless [Brit, Cdn], stink up

Type of: aesthesis, ambiance, ambience, atmosphere, cause to be perceived, comprehend, esthesis [US], evoke, exteroception, modality, paint a picture, perceive, perception, property, sensation, sense datum, sense experience, sense impression, sense modality, sensing, sensory system, suggest

Encyclopedia: Smell