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

Etymology

Origin of smell

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

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

Participants rated its smell as more pleasant than either dark chocolate or water, but the aroma did not significantly change their hunger or appetite.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

Even from outside the front door, medics detected the strong and distinct smell of a decomposing human body.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

We’ve all stood under a streetlight; we all know the smell of wine and cheap perfume.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026

Kulgod's co-founder Itamar Bitan, 28, who spent four years in an Israeli special-forces canine unit, said the dogs were trained using "positive reinforcement" to detect a "specific funky smell" for a reward.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

And as if reading my mind, Lou says, “That scent is from my simmer pot. I just throw in some lemon peels, orange rind, and cinnamon sticks. Makes the house smell nice.”

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Brentford will play on the counter-attack here and Bournemouth will have a go at them, so this smells like a draw to me.

From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026

Instead of being laid out spatially, its wiring works more like a bar code, with distributed patterns of activity representing particular smells or complex memories.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 31, 2026

He pointed to one of his favorite trees, a Japanese katsura, that smells like cotton candy when its leaves begin to fall in autumn.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026

This new wordmark smells like Le Labo’s Santal 33.

From Slate ● Aug. 21, 2026

Sweet summer smells came in the breezes from the farms around the camp; sometimes I would dream that Karel and I were walking hand in hand along a country lane.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

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

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

"The lab smelled like a fish market," she says.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026

“I really haven’t smelled it in its prime,” McGraw said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

His face scrunched as a breeze that smelled like vomit hit us.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

I followed Tansy into the schoolroom, which smelled worse.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

"The common area smelt of sewage, there was water dripping through the ceiling and there were public toilets out of action for the whole voyage," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 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

Bigger saw a thin spout of steam jutting from the pot and smelt the good scent of coffee.

From "Native Son" by Richard Wright

Compared with both the water control and milk chocolate conditions, smelling dark chocolate was consistently associated with lower hunger, less desire and intention to eat, and greater feelings of fullness before exercise.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

Experiencing it firsthand—walking through markets, smelling charcoal smoke and watching people cook—gave him a better understanding of how to build that depth of flavor into his own cooking.

From Salon ● Sep. 1, 2026

Especially during high-traffic times, after waiting in line, you’d pick up a phone still warm from the grip of the inmate who’d just been using it, the receiver still smelling like his breath.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

Burbank, the San Gabriel Valley and many other parts of the city and county reported seeing and smelling the fumes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

The earth is still warm from the sun’s heat, and the grass is sweet smelling.

From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila

Related Words

• aroma
• bouquet
• flavor
• perfume
• scent
• stench
• stink
• trace
• whiff