Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
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- [smel]
- /smɛl/
- /smel/
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [smel]
- /smɛl/
Definitions of smell word
- verb with object smell to perceive the odor or scent of through the nose by means of the olfactory nerves; inhale the odor of: I smell something burning. 1
- verb with object smell to test by the sense of smell: She smelled the meat to see if it was fresh. 1
- verb with object smell to perceive, detect, or discover by shrewdness or sagacity: The detective smelled foul play. 1
- verb without object smell to perceive something by its odor or scent. 1
- verb without object smell to search or investigate (followed by around or about). 1
- verb without object smell to give off or have an odor or scent: Do the yellow roses smell? 1
Information block about the term
Origin of smell
First appearance:
before 1125 One of the 6% oldest English words
1125-75; early Middle English smell, smull (noun), smellen, smullen (v.) < ?
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Smell
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
smell popularity
A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 98% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.
Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".
smell usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerSynonyms for smell
noun smell
- attar — an essential oil from flowers, esp the damask rose, used pure or as a base for perfume
- balminess — mild and refreshing; soft; soothing: balmy weather.
- bouquet — A bouquet is a bunch of flowers which is attractively arranged.
- breath — Your breath is the air that you let out through your mouth when you breathe. If someone has bad breath, their breath smells unpleasant.
- eau de cologne — cologne.
verb smell
- draw in — to cause to move in a particular direction by or as if by a pulling force; pull; drag (often followed by along, away, in, out, or off).
- inhale — to breathe in; draw in by breathing: to inhale the polluted air.
- insufflate — to blow or breathe (something) in.
- mousing — a wrapping of several turns of small stuff around the shank end of a hook.
- nose — the part of the face or facial region in humans and certain animals that contains the nostrils and the organs of smell and functions as the usual passageway for air in respiration: in humans it is a prominence in the center of the face formed of bone and cartilage, serving also to modify or modulate the voice.
adj smell
- inodorous — not odorous; odorless.
adjective smell
- deodorant — Deodorant is a substance that you can use on your body to hide or prevent the smell of sweat.
- deodorising — Present participle of deodorise.
- deodorizing — Present participle of deodorize.
- odorless — the property of a substance that activates the sense of smell: to have an unpleasant odor.
- odourless — Having no odour.
Top questions with smell
- how to smell your own breath?
- what does sex smell like?
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- how to get rid of the smell of weed?
- why do my farts smell like rotten eggs?
- how to get weed smell out of car?
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- why does my pee smell?
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