smell

American  

[smel] / smɛl /

verb (used with object)

• smells,
  present (3rd person singular)
• smelled,
  past participle,  past
• smelt,
  past participle,  past
• smelling
  present participle

1. to perceive the odor or scent of through the nose by means of the olfactory nerves; inhale the odor of.

   I smell something burning.

2. to test by the sense of smell.

   She smelled the meat to see if it was fresh.

3. to perceive, detect, or discover by shrewdness or sagacity.

   The detective smelled foul play.

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verb (used without object)

• smells,
  present (3rd person singular)
• smelled,
  past participle,  past
• smelt,
  past participle,  past
• smelling
  present participle

1. to perceive something by its odor or scent.

2. to search or investigate (followed by around orabout ).

3. to give off or have an odor or scent.

   Do the yellow roses smell?

4. to give out an offensive odor; stink.

5. to have a particular odor (followed byof ).

   My hands smell of fish.

6. to have a trace or suggestion (followed byof ).

7. Informal. to be of inferior quality; stink.

   The play is good, but the direction smells.

8. Informal. to have the appearance or a suggestion of guilt or corruption.

   They may be honest, but the whole situation smells.

noun

• smells
  plural

1. the sense of smell; faculty of smelling.

2. the quality of a thing that is or may be smelled; odor; scent.

3. a trace or suggestion.

4. an act or instance of smelling.

5. a pervading appearance, character, quality, or influence.

   the smell of money.

verb phrase

1. smell out to look for or detect as if by smelling; search out.

   to smell out enemy spies.

2. smell up to fill with an offensive odor; stink up.

   The garbage smelled up the yard.

idioms

1. smell a rat. rat.

smell British  

/ smɛl /

verb

1. (tr) to perceive the scent or odour of (a substance) by means of the olfactory nerves

2. (copula) to have a specified smell; appear to the sense of smell to be

   the beaches smell of seaweed

   some tobacco smells very sweet

3. to emit an odour (of)

   the park smells of flowers

4. (intr) to emit an unpleasant odour; stink

5. to detect through shrewdness or instinct

6. (intr) to have or use the sense of smell; sniff

7. to give indications (of)

   he smells of money

8. (intr; foll by around, about, etc) to search, investigate, or pry

9. (copula) to be or seem to be untrustworthy or corrupt

10. to detect something suspicious

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noun

1. that sense (olfaction) by which scents or odours are perceived

2. anything detected by the sense of smell; odour; scent

3. a trace or indication

4. the act or an instance of smelling

smell More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing smell

• come up (smelling like) roses
• stink (smell) to high heaven

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Synonym Usage

See odor.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• smeller
  noun
• outsmell
  verb (used with object)
• smell-less
  adjective
• smellable
  adjective
• unsmelled
  adjective
• unsmelling
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• smells
  plural

Participles

• smelling
  present
• smelled
  past
• smelt
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• smell
  simple
• smells
  simple
• have smelled
  perfect
• have smelt
  perfect
• has smelled
  perfect
• has smelt
  perfect
• am smelling
  progressive
• are smelling
  progressive
• is smelling
  progressive
• have been smelling
  perfect progressive
• has been smelling
  perfect progressive

Past

• smelled
  simple
• smelt
  simple
• had smelled
  perfect
• had smelt
  perfect
• was smelling
  progressive
• were smelling
  progressive
• had been smelling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will smell
  simple
• will have smelled
  perfect
• will have smelt
  perfect
• will be smelling
  progressive
• will have been smelling
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of smell

First recorded in 1125–75; early Middle English smell, smull (noun), smellen, smullen (verb); origin uncertain.

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Explanation

Smell is one of your five senses—the one you use your nose for. Dogs have such a sharp sense of smell that they can sniff out things like explosives and drugs. Your sense of smell gives you important information, like "this milk is sour," or "I need a shower." An individual odor or scent is also a smell, and to perceive it with your nose is to smell it. If someone says, "You smell," it's not a compliment—what they mean is, "You don't smell good." While experts believe that smell has an Old English root, it was never recorded.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

smell smells smelled smelt smelling

This week, a grey haze hangs over Delhi, along with a distinct smoky smell that residents unwillingly recognise.

From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2026

I mean, you can make the argument that smell is actually more important for your survival, but we’re not talking about survival here.

From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026

“I like it when I am eating, but not the smell you get when you walk into a dinner party and it overpowers the room.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 1, 2026

Mr. Berge’s suggestion that our sense of smell is “fading” is slightly puzzling, too.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

It smelt of reindeer and red deer and beaver, and fresh blood -and something else: a new smell that he hadn’t yet learnt.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

It reminds us that the smells we remember fondly are often inseparable from the less-than-fragrant conditions that produced them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Of particular importance were genes responsible for odorant receptors, which enable ants to detect and respond to smells.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 28, 2026

"We have just been walking around, looking at the people and the atmosphere, and you can feel that the air is completely different. Everything smells of freedom."

From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026

The attorneys said detainees have complained about going three to seven hours without water, and about having access only to tap water that tastes like metal and smells like fish.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026

It smells like Aunt Melissa’s lavender-and-mint shampoo, which is oddly comforting.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

“It confirmed what the market already smelled: The calculus has shifted towards peace and lower prices at home.”

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 4, 2026

It was a cool, rainy morning and the trail, mostly deserted, smelled fresh and funky, like wet moss, gloopy mud and damp leaves.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 29, 2026

The haze can be smelled even indoors in the city of about 700,000 people.

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

“I saw thick smoke and smelled a strong odor of gunpowder,” she said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

The farther down the passage I got, the less it smelled like must and the more it smelled like something else.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

With the Springboks dominating in the basics, the crowd in Cape Town smelt blood as the lead stretched to 17-7.

From BBC ● Aug. 29, 2026

He and other environmental advocates say the voluntary deals struck by major water agencies would be disastrous for threatened and endangered fish, including salmon, steelhead, green sturgeon, longfin smelt and Delta smelt.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Various types of native fish have suffered declines, including steelhead trout, white sturgeon and longfin smelt.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 21, 2026

Look no further than GameStop’s $56 billion bid for eBay, which is the equivalent of a smelt swallowing a whale.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 4, 2026

It waren’t the horses, they smelt the same as Buxton horses.

From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis

Mr. Berge is less interested in such practical applications than in the embodied experience of smelling.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

The Seahawks, defending Super Bowl champions, got a collective whiff of smelling salts before Sunday’s game, having suffered an embarrassing loss at Washington a week earlier.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 5, 2026

A citizens' group said on social media that one resident in the street where the explosion happened had alerted authorities after smelling a possible gas leak.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

Cats displayed this response more often when smelling unfamiliar urine than when smelling their own.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Each time, she seemed more substantial—her hair pulled back with “a single, white rose,” her perfume smelling of “freshly gathered violets.”

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

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Related Words

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