What does smell mean?

Definitions for smell
smɛlsmell

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word smell.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. smell, odor, odour, olfactory sensation, olfactory perceptionnoun

    the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form

    "she loved the smell of roses"

  2. olfactory property, smell, aroma, odor, odour, scentnoun

    any property detected by the olfactory system

  3. spirit, tone, feel, feeling, flavor, flavour, look, smellnoun

    the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people

    "the feel of the city excited him"; "a clergyman improved the tone of the meeting"; "it had the smell of treason"

  4. smell, sense of smell, olfaction, olfactory modalitynoun

    the faculty that enables us to distinguish scents

  5. smell, smellingverb

    the act of perceiving the odor of something

  6. smellverb

    inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense

  7. smellverb

    emit an odor

    "The soup smells good"

  8. smellverb

    smell bad

    "He rarely washes, and he smells"

  9. smack, reek, smellverb

    have an element suggestive (of something)

    "his speeches smacked of racism"; "this passage smells of plagiarism"

  10. smell, smell out, senseverb

    become aware of not through the senses but instinctively

    "I sense his hostility"; "i smell trouble"; "smell out corruption"

Wiktionary

  1. smellnoun

    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.

  2. smellnoun

    The sense that detects odours.

  3. smellverb

    To sense a smell or smells.

  4. smellverb

    To have a particular smell, whether good or bad; if descriptive, followed by "like" or "of".

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Smellnoun

    Etymology: from the verb.

    Next, in the nostrils she doth use the smell,
    As God the breath of life in them did give;
    So makes he now this pow’r in them to dwell,
    To judge all airs, whereby we breathe, and live. Davies.

    The sweetest smell in the air is the white double violet, which comes twice a-year. Francis Bacon.

    All sweet smells have joined with them some earthy or crude odours. Francis Bacon.

    Pleasant smells are not confined unto vegetables, but found in divers animals. Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errours.

    There is a great variety of smells, though we have but a few names for them: the smell of a violet and of musk, both sweet, are as distinct as any two smells. John Locke.

  2. To Smellverb

    Etymology: Of this word the etymology is very obscure. Stephen Skinner, the most acute of all etymologists, derives it from smoel, warm, Dutch; because smells are encreased by heat.

    Their neighbours hear the same musick, or smell the same perfumes with themselves: for here is enough. Collier.

    The horse smelt him out, and presently a crochet came in his head how to countermine him. Roger L'Estrange.

  3. To Smellverb

    The king is but a man as I am: the violet smells to him as it doth to me; all his senses have but human conditions. William Shakespeare.

    The daintiest smells of flowers are out of those plants whose leaves smell not. Francis Bacon, Natural History.

    Honey in Spain smelleth apparently of the rosemary or orange, from whence the bee gathereth it. Francis Bacon.

    A work of this nature is not to be performed upon one leg, and should smell of oil if duly handled. Brown.

    If you have a silver saucepan, and the butter smells of smoak, lay the fault upon the coals. Jonathan Swift.

    My unsoil’d name, the austereness of my life,
    Will so your accusation overweigh,
    That you shall stifle in your own report,
    And smell of calumny. William Shakespeare.

    Down with the nose, take the bridge quite away
    Of him that his particular to forefend,
    Smells from the general weal. William Shakespeare.

    A man so smelling of the people’s lee,
    The court receiv’d him first for charity. Dryden.

    Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall be cut off. Exod. xxx. 38.

    I had a mind to know, whether they would find out the treasure, and whether smelling enabled them to know what is good for their nourishment. Joseph Addison, Spectator.

ChatGPT

  1. smell

    Smell refers to the perception or sensation that occurs when olfactory receptors in the nose detect molecules or particles emitted by substances in the surrounding environment. It is one of the five main senses and allows individuals to detect and recognize odors or fragrances. Smell plays a crucial role in taste, navigation, and the overall experience and interpretation of the world around us.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Smellnoun

    to perceive by the olfactory nerves, or organs of smell; to have a sensation of, excited through the nasal organs when affected by the appropriate materials or qualities; to obtain the scent of; as, to smell a rose; to smell perfumes

  2. Smellnoun

    to detect or perceive, as if by the sense of smell; to scent out; -- often with out

  3. Smellnoun

    to give heed to

  4. Smellverb

    to affect the olfactory nerves; to have an odor or scent; -- often followed by of; as, to smell of smoke, or of musk

  5. Smellverb

    to have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savor; as, a report smells of calumny

  6. Smellverb

    to exercise the sense of smell

  7. Smellverb

    to exercise sagacity

  8. Smellverb

    the sense or faculty by which certain qualities of bodies are perceived through the instrumentally of the olfactory nerves. See Sense

  9. Smellverb

    the quality of any thing or substance, or emanation therefrom, which affects the olfactory organs; odor; scent; fragrance; perfume; as, the smell of mint

  10. Etymology: [OE. smellen, smillen, smullen; cf. LG. smellen, smelen, smlen, schmelen, to smoke, to reek, D. smeulen to smolder, and E. smolder. Cf. Smell, n.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Smell

    smel, v.i. to affect the nose: to have odour: to use the sense of smell.—v.t. to perceive by the nose:—pa.t. and pa.p. smelled or smelt.—n. the quality of bodies which affects the nose: odour: perfume: the sense which perceives this quality.—ns. Smell′er; Smell′-feast, a greedy fellow; Smell′ing, the sense by which smells are perceived; Smell′ing-bott′le, a bottle containing smelling-salts, or the like; Smell′ing-salts, a preparation of ammonium carbonate with lavender, &c., used as a stimulant in faintness, &c.; Smell′-trap, a drain-trap.—adj. Smell′y, having a bad smell.—Smell a rat (see Rat); Smell out, to find out by prying. [Allied to Low Ger. smelen, Dut. smeulen, to smoulder.]

U.S. National Library of Medicine

  1. Smell

    The ability to detect scents or odors, such as the function of OLFACTORY RECEPTOR NEURONS.

Editors Contribution

  1. smell

    The ability to perceive and sense through the nose and related elements.

    My husband did smell my perfume as he was very complimentary.


    Submitted by MaryC on December 31, 2019  

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. SMELL

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Smell is ranked #150452 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Smell surname appeared 109 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Smell.

    82.5% or 90 total occurrences were White.
    11.9% or 13 total occurrences were Black.

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'smell' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3803

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'smell' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2408

  3. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'smell' in Nouns Frequency: #1374

  4. Verbs Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'smell' in Verbs Frequency: #629

How to pronounce smell?

How to say smell in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of smell in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of smell in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of smell in a Sentence

  1. Chris Pine:

    For me, fragrances are very - one of these beautiful art forms that bring about a whole host of things. It's what you want to smell like, it's memories that make you smile or are resonant of times in your life, it can remind you of music. If you're a lover of scent, it's a very kind of particular and evocative thing.

  2. Christy Diller:

    For me, it's a miracle, although the cream can smell pretty bad. I went to my daughter one time. She said,' You smell horrible. What do you have on ?' I said' marijuana.' My daughter laughed and said' whatever works.'.

  3. Lucy Soule:

    Now you can smell it burning.

  4. Steven Munger:

    What we've known for a long time is one of the major causes of smell loss are upper respiratory tract infections due to viruses -- a common cold, influenza -- a subset of people lose their sense of smell, most of them temporarily, but a small subset lose that smell permanently.

  5. Herb Cohen:

    If you think you're free, no escape is possible." "A nose that can hear, is worth two that can smell.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

smell#1#8314#10000

Translations for smell

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for smell »

Translation

Find a translation for the smell definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"smell." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/smell>.

Discuss these smell definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for smell? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    cause to be embarrassed; cause to feel self-conscious
    A abase
    B efface
    C abash
    D scarper

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for smell: