smelt

[ smelt ]

/ smɛlt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR smelt ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to fuse or melt (ore) in order to separate the metal contained.

to obtain or refine (metal) in this way.

Nearby words

smeller, smellies, smelling bottle, smelling salts, smelly, smelt, smelter, smeltery, smelting, smersh, smetana

Origin of smelt

1535–45; probably < Middle Dutch or Middle Low German smelten; cognate with German schmelzen to melt¹, smelt

Definition for smelt (2 of 4)

smelt

[ smelt ]

/ smɛlt /

noun, plural (especially collectively) smelt, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) smelts.

any of various small, silvery food fishes of the family Osmeridae, of cold northern waters, as the North American rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax.

any of several superficially similar but unrelated fishes, especially certain silversides, of California.

Origin of smelt

before 900; Middle English, Old English; compare Norwegian smelta whiting

Definition for smelt (3 of 4)

smelt

[ smelt ]

/ smɛlt /

verb

a simple past tense and past participle of smell.

Definition for smelt (4 of 4)

smell

[ smel ]

/ smɛl /

verb (used with object), smelled or smelt, smell·ing.

to perceive the odor or scent of through the nose by means of the olfactory nerves; inhale the odor of: I smell something burning.

to test by the sense of smell: She smelled the meat to see if it was fresh.

to perceive, detect, or discover by shrewdness or sagacity: The detective smelled foul play.

verb (used without object), smelled or smelt, smell·ing.

to perceive something by its odor or scent.

to search or investigate (followed by around or about).

to give off or have an odor or scent: Do the yellow roses smell?

to give out an offensive odor; stink.

to have a particular odor (followed by of): My hands smell of fish.

to have a trace or suggestion (followed by of).

Informal. to be of inferior quality; stink: The play is good, but the direction smells.

Informal. to have the appearance or a suggestion of guilt or corruption: They may be honest, but the whole situation smells.

noun

the sense of smell; faculty of smelling.

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

a trace or suggestion.

an act or instance of smelling.

a pervading appearance, character, quality, or influence: the smell of money.

Verb Phrases

smell out, to look for or detect as if by smelling; search out: to smell out enemy spies.

smell up, to fill with an offensive odor; stink up: The garbage smelled up the yard.

Origin of smell

1125–75; early Middle English smell, smull (noun), smellen, smullen (v.) < ?

SYNONYMS FOR smell

13 See odor.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR smell ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

smell·a·ble, adjectivesmell-less, adjectiveout·smell, verb (used with object), out·smelled or out·smelt, out·smel·ling.un·smelled, adjective

un·smell·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for smelt

My nostrils have smelt the horrors of the (cloth) diaper pail.
Why Men Shouldn’t Wait To Have Kids|Conor P. Williams|March 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Romans learned how to smelt copper into brass, then bronze, to make weapons, and suddenly war was an entirely different game.
Copper, the Metal That Runs the World: ‘Boom, Bust, Boom,’ by Bill Carter|Peter Madden|October 26, 2012|DAILY BEAST
I felt the sweat pouring from his face on to mine, and he smelt horribly of garlic.
The Secret Service Submarine|Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull
He had smelt the parson before, and wagged his tail faintly as he saw him.
A Flat Iron for a Farthing|Juliana Horatia Ewing

A Jesuit pretended to have smelt out the fox that lay disguised in sheep's clothing.
Fiesco or, The Genoese Conspiracy|Friedrich Schiller
It smelt to me as if some one had just that minute turned out the earth all fresh and new.
Day and Night Stories|Algernon Blackwood
Before we had quite finished, the Cree returned to camp, and at once declared that he smelt grog.
The Great Lone Land|W. F. Butler

British Dictionary definitions for smelt (1 of 4)

smelt

/ (smɛlt) /

verb

(tr) to extract (a metal) from (an ore) by heating

Word Origin for smelt

C15: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch smelten; related to Old High German smelzan to melt

British Dictionary definitions for smelt (2 of 4)

smelt

/ (smɛlt) /

noun plural smelt or smelts

any marine or freshwater salmonoid food fish of the family Osmeridae, such as Osmerus eperlanus of Europe, having a long silvery body and occurring in temperate and cold northern waters

Word Origin for smelt

Old English smylt; related to Dutch, Danish smelt, Norwegian smelta, German Schmelz

British Dictionary definitions for smelt (3 of 4)

smelt

/ (smɛlt) /

verb

a past tense and past participle of smell

British Dictionary definitions for smelt (4 of 4)

smell

/ (smɛl) /

verb smells, smelling, smelt or smelled

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

(copula) to have a specified smell; appear to the sense of smell to bethe beaches smell of seaweed; some tobacco smells very sweet

(intr often foll by of) to emit an odour (of)the park smells of flowers

(intr) to emit an unpleasant odour; stink

(tr often foll by out) to detect through shrewdness or instinct

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

(intr foll by of) to give indications (of)he smells of money

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

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

smell a rat to detect something suspicious

noun

that sense (olfaction) by which scents or odours are perceivedRelated adjective: olfactory

anything detected by the sense of smell; odour; scent

a trace or indication

the act or an instance of smelling

Derived Formssmeller, noun

Word Origin for smell

C12: of uncertain origin; compare Middle Dutch smölen to scorch

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for smelt (1 of 4)

smelt

mid-15c. (implied in smelter), from Dutch or Low German smelten, from Proto-Germanic *smelt- (cf. Old High German smelzan, German schmelzen "to melt"), from PIE *smeld-, variant of *mel- "soft." Thus the word is from a variant of the stem of Old English meltan "to melt" (see melt (v.)). Related: Smelted; smelting.

Word Origin and History for smelt (1 of 4)

smelt

Old English smelt "sardine, small salmon-like sea fish," cognate with Dutch smelt "sand eel," Danish smelt (c.1600). OED notes that it has a peculiar odor (but doesn't suggest a connection with smell); Klein suggests a connection with the way the fish melts in one's mouth. Century Dictionary speculates it means "smooth" and compares Old English smeolt, smylt "serene, smooth."

Word Origin and History for smelt (2 of 4)

smell

late 12c., "emit or perceive an odor," not found in Old English, perhaps cognate with Middle Dutch smolen, Low German smelen "to smolder" (see smolder). However, OED says "no doubt of Old English origin, but not recorded, and not represented in any of the cognate languages." Related: Smelled or smelt; smelling.

Smelling salts (1840), used to revive the woozy, typically were a scented preparation of carbonate of ammonia. Smell-feast (n.) "one who finds and frequents good tables, one who scents out where free food is to be had" is from 1510s ("very common" c.1540-1700, OED). Smell-smock "licentious man" was in use c.1550-c.1900. To smell a rat "be suspicious" is from 1540s.

Word Origin and History for smelt (3 of 4)

smell

"odor, aroma, stench," late 12c.; "faculty of perceiving by the nose," c.1200; see smell (v.). Ousted Old English stenc (see stench) in most senses.

Medicine definitions for smelt

smell

[ smĕl ]

v.

To perceive the scent of something by means of the olfactory nerves.

n.

The sense by which odors are perceived; the olfactory sense.

Science definitions for smelt

smelt

[ smĕlt ]

To melt ores in order to extract the metals they contain. Oxide ores, such as iron ore, are smelted with carbon, which serves as a fuel and changes the ore into a reduced metal.

Idioms and Phrases with smelt

smell

In addition to the idioms beginning with smell

smell a rat
smell fishy
smell to high heaven
smell up

also see:

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

smelt

verb (used with object)

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of smelt

Definition for smelt (2 of 4)

smelt

noun, plural (especially collectively) smelt, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) smelts.

Origin of smelt

Definition for smelt (3 of 4)

smelt

verb

Definition for smelt (4 of 4)

smell

verb (used with object), smelled or smelt, smell·ing.

verb (used without object), smelled or smelt, smell·ing.

noun

Verb Phrases

Origin of smell

Examples from the Web for smelt

British Dictionary definitions for smelt (1 of 4)

smelt

verb

Word Origin for smelt

British Dictionary definitions for smelt (2 of 4)

smelt

noun plural smelt or smelts

Word Origin for smelt

British Dictionary definitions for smelt (3 of 4)

smelt

verb

British Dictionary definitions for smelt (4 of 4)

smell

verb smells, smelling, smelt or smelled

noun

Word Origin for smell

Word Origin and History for smelt (1 of 4)

smelt

Word Origin and History for smelt (1 of 4)

smelt

Word Origin and History for smelt (2 of 4)

smell

Word Origin and History for smelt (3 of 4)

smell

Medicine definitions for smelt

smell

v.

n.

Science definitions for smelt

smelt

Idioms and Phrases with smelt

smell