scent

[sent]

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.

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

/ 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

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

Other Word Forms

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of scent¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of scent¹

C14: from Old French sentir to sense, from Latin sentīre to feel; see _sense

Idioms and Phrases

see throw off, def. 3.

Synonym Study

See odor.

Example Sentences

O’Neal hired a company that developed scents for Las Vegas casinos in an effort to eliminate the musty aroma that often plagues secondhand stores.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As you chew, the cardamom bits send out little bolts of flavor, suffusing the cake with a lovely scent of spice.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

There are still themed Legos, but now also Gain laundry scent boosters, Swiffers and Pottery Barn bedding.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

They know only the voice and scent of the woman who carried them for nine months—and whom they will never know again.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Niles caught the scent of her bloodlust, she says at a public reading, “and like some dark angel, made manifest a wish too horrible to name.”

Read more on Salon

Related Words

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