What does smell mean?
Definitions for smell
smɛlsmell
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word smell.
Princeton's WordNet
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"
olfactory property, smell, aroma, odor, odour, scentnoun
any property detected by the olfactory system
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"
smell, sense of smell, olfaction, olfactory modalitynoun
the faculty that enables us to distinguish scents
smell, smellingverb
the act of perceiving the odor of something
smellverb
inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense
smellverb
emit an odor
"The soup smells good"
smellverb
smell bad
"He rarely washes, and he smells"
smack, reek, smellverb
have an element suggestive (of something)
"his speeches smacked of racism"; "this passage smells of plagiarism"
smell, smell out, senseverb
become aware of not through the senses but instinctively
"I sense his hostility"; "i smell trouble"; "smell out corruption"
Wiktionary
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.
smellnoun
The sense that detects odours.
smellverb
To sense a smell or smells.
smellverb
To have a particular smell, whether good or bad; if descriptive, followed by "like" or "of".
Webster Dictionary
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
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.]
Smellnoun
to detect or perceive, as if by the sense of smell; to scent out; -- often with out
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.]
Smellnoun
to give heed to
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.]
Smellverb
to affect the olfactory nerves; to have an odor or scent; -- often followed by of; as, to smell of smoke, or of musk
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.]
Smellverb
to have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savor; as, a report smells of calumny
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.]
Smellverb
to exercise the sense of smell
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.]
Smellverb
to exercise sagacity
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.]
Smellverb
the sense or faculty by which certain qualities of bodies are perceived through the instrumentally of the olfactory nerves. See Sense
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.]
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
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
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
Smell
The ability to detect scents or odors, such as the function of OLFACTORY RECEPTOR NEURONS.
Editors Contribution
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
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'smell' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #3803
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'smell' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2408
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'smell' in Nouns Frequency: #1374
Verbs Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'smell' in Verbs Frequency: #629
Anagrams for smell »
Mells
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of smell in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of smell in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7
Examples of smell in a Sentence
When I crawled out I was so cold, so I was warming myself near one of the piles that was still smoldering. I could see an arm. I could see nostrils. But I was numb to that by then, the smell is one that will never leave me.
As we sailed closer, we started to smell the dead carcasses of livestock that were floating past the ships. When we smelt those, we knew that this disaster was really, really bad.
You can imagine, if we look subjectively at their DNA, we could predict what will taste better or worse to people, so you can tailor dietary advice to people's actual ability to taste and smell.
Fear can be passed on to others and, similar to fear of flying, its smell can be sensed by people in outlandish places or fussy situations. Its apprehension may be nasal or actuated through our brain, our memory or the sensorial spread, and not at the least through a sixth sense. (One could still feel the smell of fear )
In terms of potential applications, our findings could be used to improve the way we design alarm sounds. The same way a bad smell is added to natural gas to make it easily detectable, adding roughness to alarm sounds may improve and accelerate their processing.
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Translations for smell
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- شم, رائحةArabic
- qoxuAzerbaijani
- еҫBashkir
- пахBelarusian
- миризмаBulgarian
- গন্ধ, গন্ধ পাওয়াBengali
- olfacte, olorar, ensumar, flairar, olor, flaire, odorar, fer olor a, fer olorCatalan, Valencian
- čich, vonět, čichat, páchnout, vůně, cítit, být cítitCzech
- lugt, lugtesans, dufte, lugte, stinkeDanish
- Geruch, riechen, Geruchssinn, stinkenGerman
- μυρωδιά, όσφρηση, μυρίζωGreek
- odoro, flari, flarsensoEsperanto
- oler, olor, olfato, husmearSpanish
- usain, usaindu, usaimenBasque
- بوی, انبوییدن, بو داشتن, بوییدنPersian
- hajuaisti, tuoksua, haistaa, haista, hajuFinnish
- parfum, sentir, odeur, odoratFrench
- bolaigh, boladh, bolaitheIrish
- cheirarGalician
- soarManx
- הריח, ריח, חוש הריחHebrew
- गंधHindi
- santiHaitian Creole
- illat, bűz, illatozik, bűzlik, szag, szaglás, szagol, megszagolHungarian
- հոտ արձակել, հոտ ունենալ, հոտ քաշել, հոտոտել, հոտ, հոտառությունArmenian
- aroma, bau, mencium, berbauIndonesian
- lykt, lykta, lyktarskynIcelandic
- odorare, sentire, odore, fiutareItalian
- 匂い, 嗅覚, 匂いを感じる, 嗅ぐ, 匂うJapanese
- ngambu, mambuJavanese
- кетшiKazakh
- ក្លិនKhmer
- 냄새, 냄새를 맡다Korean
- بۆنکردن, بۆنKurdish
- oleo, odor, olefaciō, olfaciōLatin
- kvapas, uoslė, uostiLithuanian
- smarža, oža, ostLatvian
- hongihongi, whakamono, konakona, hongiMāori
- мирис, миризба, мириса, намирисуваMacedonian
- ഗന്ധം, വാസന, മണം, ഘ്രാണശക്തിMalayalam
- वास, वास घेणेMarathi
- bauMalay
- နမ်းBurmese
- luktesans, luktNorwegian
- stank, ruiken, geuren, geur, reuk, reukzin, stinkenDutch
- luktesans, luktNorwegian Nynorsk
- stinke, lukteNorwegian
- yishchin, honishchinNavajo, Navaho
- zapach, węch, zmysł zapachuPolish
- بوىPashto, Pushto
- cheiro, olfato, cheirarPortuguese
- mutkhiy, q'apayQuechua
- odurar, savurarRomansh
- mirosi, mirosRomanian
- запах, обоняние, ощущать запах, обонять, пахнуть, нюх, чувствовать запах, чуять, нюхатьRussian
- мирис, mirisSerbo-Croatian
- vôňaSlovak
- vonjSlovene
- joshë, erëAlbanian
- lukt, lukta, doftaSwedish
- harufuSwahili
- వాసనTelugu
- กลิ่นThai
- koklamak, kokmak, koku, koku almakTurkish
- запахUkrainian
- mùiVietnamese
- smeilasienVolapük
- odaWalloon
- 聞Chinese
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"smell." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2022. Web. 28 May 2022. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/smell>.
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