scent
[sent]
- a distinctive odor, especially when agreeable: the scent of roses.
- an odor left in passing, by means of which an animal or person may be traced.
- a track or trail as or as if indicated by such an odor: The dogs lost the scent and the prisoner escaped.
- perfume.
- the sense of smell: a remarkably keen scent.
- small pieces of paper dropped by the hares in the game of hare and hounds.
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- to perceive or recognize by or as if by the sense of smell: to scent trouble.
- to fill with an odor; perfume.
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- to hunt by the sense of smell, as a hound.
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Origin of scent
1325–75; (v.) earlier sent, Middle English senten < Middle French sentir to smell < Latin sentīre to feel; (noun) Middle English, derivative of the v. Cf. sense
Synonyms
See more synonyms for scent on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for scent
Contemporary Examples
Selling off the extras, I saw my neighbor marvel at the scent and murmur that he wished he could afford one.
He even claims that hen partridges conceive just by smelling the scent of males.
This is not the boisterous version of Pacino, the one we saw as Tony Montana in Scarface or as Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman.
Al Pacino Does What He Wants to Do: 'The Humbling,' Scorsese, and That 'Scarface' RemakeAlex Suskind
September 9, 2014
Unless, of course, everything he told us is “a big farce” to lead challengers off the scent.
His movie career began in movies like Scent of a Woman (1992).
Historical Examples
Taking to the water threw the hounds off the scent of the track.
Biography of a SlaveCharles Thompson
Tse-tse, who trusted me to keep the scent, was watching ahead for a sight of the quarry.
The Trail BookMary Austin
We dropped behind a boulder and Tse-tse counted while I lifted every scent.
The Trail BookMary Austin
The professor, who was a kind-hearted man, drew a herring across the scent.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
The scent of a big item was in his nostrils, and it stimulated him like champagne.
In the Midst of AlarmsRobert Barr
scent
- a distinctive smell, esp a pleasant one
- a smell left in passing, by which a person or animal may be traced
- a trail, clue, or guide
- an instinctive ability for finding out or detecting
- another word (esp Brit) for perfume
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- (tr) to recognize or be aware of by or as if by the smell
- (tr) to have a suspicion of; detectI scent foul play
- (tr) to fill with odour or fragrance
- (intr) (of hounds, etc) to hunt by the sense of smell
- to smell (at)the dog scented the air
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French sentir to sense, from Latin sentīre to feel; see sense
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for scent
v.
late 14c., sent "to find the scent of," from Old French sentir "to feel, smell, touch, taste; realize, perceive; make love to," from Latin sentire " to feel, perceive, sense, discern, hear, see" (see sense (n.)).
Originally a hunting term. The -c- appeared 17c., perhaps by influence of ascent, descent, etc., or by influence of science. This was a tendency in early Modern English, cf. scythe, and also scite, scituate. Figurative use from 1550s. Transitive sense "impregnate with an odor, perfume" is from 1690s. Related: Scented; scenting.
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n.
late 14c., "scent, smell, what can be smelled" (as a means of pursuit by a hound), from scent (v.). Almost always applied to agreeable odors.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with scent
scent
see throw off, def. 3.
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.