1. Perceive odours through the nose
   "She smelled the roses"; "He smelled something burning in the kitchen"
    
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

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. The faculty that enables us to distinguish scents
   "The perfumer's keen sense of smell allowed her to create complex fragrances";
   - sense of smell, olfaction, olfactory modality
    
3. Any property detected by the olfactory system
   "The wine's fruity aroma was its most distinctive smell";
   - olfactory property, aroma, odor [US], odour [Brit, Cdn], scent
    
4. The act of perceiving the odour of something
   "One smell of the milk told her it had gone bad";
   - smelling
    
5. 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

Derived forms: smells, smelling, smelled

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

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

Encyclopedia: Smell