smell
♦ smell /sm'el/ (smells smelling smelled smelt)
American English usually uses the form smelled as the past tense and past participle. British English uses either smelled or smelt.
1 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
The smell of something is a quality it has which you become aware of when you breathe in through your nose.
...the smell of freshly baked bread.
...horrible smells...
2 [N-UNCOUNT]
Your sense of smell is the ability that your nose has to detect things.
...people who lose their sense of smell.
3 [V-LINK] V of n, V adj, V like n
If something smells in a particular way, it has a quality which you become aware of through your nose.
The room smelled of lemons...
It smells delicious.
...a crumbly black substance that smells like fresh soil.
4 [VERB] V, V
If you say that something smells, you mean that it smells unpleasant.
Ma threw that out. She said it smelled...
Do my feet smell?
5 [VERB] V n
If you smell something, you become aware of it when you breathe in through your nose.
As soon as we opened the front door we could smell the gas.
6 [VERB] V n
If you smell something, you put your nose near it and breathe in, so that you can discover its smell.
I took a fresh rose out of the vase on our table, and smelled it.
= sniff
7
to smell a rat: see rat
American English usually uses the form smelled as the past tense and past participle. British English uses either smelled or smelt.
1 [N-COUNT] oft N of n
The smell of something is a quality it has which you become aware of when you breathe in through your nose.
...the smell of freshly baked bread.
...horrible smells...
2 [N-UNCOUNT]
Your sense of smell is the ability that your nose has to detect things.
...people who lose their sense of smell.
3 [V-LINK] V of n, V adj, V like n
If something smells in a particular way, it has a quality which you become aware of through your nose.
The room smelled of lemons...
It smells delicious.
...a crumbly black substance that smells like fresh soil.
4 [VERB] V, V
If you say that something smells, you mean that it smells unpleasant.
Ma threw that out. She said it smelled...
Do my feet smell?
5 [VERB] V n
If you smell something, you become aware of it when you breathe in through your nose.
As soon as we opened the front door we could smell the gas.
6 [VERB] V n
If you smell something, you put your nose near it and breathe in, so that you can discover its smell.
I took a fresh rose out of the vase on our table, and smelled it.
= sniff
7
to smell a rat: see rat