scent

American  

[sent] / sɛnt /

noun

1. a distinctive odor, especially when agreeable.

   the scent of roses.

2. an odor left in passing, by means of which an animal or person may be traced.

3. a track or trail as or as if indicated by such an odor.

   The dogs lost the scent and the prisoner escaped.

4. perfume.

5. the sense of smell.

   a remarkably keen scent.

6. small pieces of paper dropped by the hares in the game of hare and hounds.

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verb (used with object)

1. to perceive or recognize by or as if by the sense of smell.

   to scent trouble.

   Synonyms:

   sniff, smell

2. to fill with an odor; perfume.

verb (used without object)

1. to hunt by the sense of smell, as a hound.

scent British  

/ sɛnt /

noun

1. a distinctive smell, esp a pleasant one

2. a smell left in passing, by which a person or animal may be traced

3. a trail, clue, or guide

4. an instinctive ability for finding out or detecting

5. another word (esp Brit) for perfume

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verb

1. (tr) to recognize or be aware of by or as if by the smell

2. (tr) to have a suspicion of; detect

   I scent foul play

3. (tr) to fill with odour or fragrance

4. (intr) (of hounds, etc) to hunt by the sense of smell

5. to smell (at)

   the dog scented the air

scent Idioms  

1. see throw off, def. 3.

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Related Words

See odor.

Other Word Forms

• nonscented adjective
• outscent verb (used with object)
• overscented adjective
• scented adjective
• scentless adjective
• scentlessness noun
• unscented adjective
• well-scented adjective

Etymology

Origin of scent

First recorded in 1325–75; (verb) earlier sent, Middle English senten, from Middle French sentir “to smell,” from Latin sentīre, “to feel”; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the verb sense

Example Sentences

Even the vanilla scent near the sweet shop had faded.

From Los Angeles Times

Modern perfumes rely heavily on oil, because their scents are made mostly from synthetic compounds.

From The Wall Street Journal

In another exhibit, he trained an AI model on half a million scents and built a machine to push those scents into the gallery to create a totally immersive viewing experience.

From Los Angeles Times

It was two weeks later that a small boy delivered a scented envelope to the side door; inside in slanted purple letters was a single line, “Jan is home.”

From Literature

AI can then scrutinize those smells, and the tech can figure out, for instance, exactly what volatile gases comprise a scent, in what combination, and what those combinations mean.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• aura
• bouquet
• essence
• odor
• perfume
• spice
• whiff