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smell
has definitions from the fields of physiology,psychology
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[ verb ] inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense
Used in print (The Atlanta Constitution...)I did n't smell a drop of liquor , and we did n't have a_bit of trouble '' . (Tristram Coffin, Not to the Swift....)From his room he could look out in springtime and see the couples hand_in_hand walking slowly , deliciously , across the campus , and he could smell the sweet vernal winds . (Ann Hebson, The Lattimer Legend....)He claimed to be visiting the waterfront saloon at the crossroads to play cards and drink with his cronies , but Kate had not smelled brandy on him since Mrs._Lattimer 's funeral . (John Dos Passos, Midcentury....)I was stumbling in my undershirt trying to find my way around her damn kitchenette when I smelt that sickish sweet hairtonic smell . (Sallie Bingham, "Moving Day," The Atlantic...)Halfway across the house , he could have smelled her morning perfume . Related terms |
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[ verb ] emit an odor
Examples "The soup smells good" Used in print (John Dos Passos, Midcentury....)The place smelt of some kind of hair lotion these pimp like characters use . (Bruce Palmer, "My Brother's Keeper", Many Are...)The place smelled strongly of rank , fertile earth , rotting wood and urine . Watson ran up the ladder and stood for a second sucking_in the cool air that smelled of mud and river weeds . (John Cheever, "The Brigadier and the Golf Widow,"...)Leaves were burning somewhere and the smoke smelled , for all its ammoniac acidity , of beginnings . (Octavia Waldo, A Cup of the Sun....)It could have been Bari or Chieti for the way it smelled . Related terms |
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[ noun ] (psychology) the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
Synonyms Examples "she loved the smell of roses" Used in print (Howard Fast, April Morning....)I was drunk with excitement and the smell of gunpowder that came floating down from the road , and the fact that I was not afraid now , but only waiting to know what to do next . (Stephen Longstreet, Eagles Where I Walk....)Anita put_out the remaining candles with a long snuffer , and in the smell of scented candlewick , the comforting awareness of each other 's bodies , the retained pattern of dancers and guests remembered , their minds grew numb and then empty_of images . Mynheer , Sir_Francis , the valley society , the very smell of the river on his right purling along to the bay past fish weirs and rocks , and ahead the sleepy ribbon of moon drenched road . (John Dos Passos, Midcentury....)I was stumbling in my undershirt trying to find my way around her damn kitchenette when I smelt that sickish sweet hairtonic smell . (Octavia Waldo, A Cup of the Sun....)Yet if he were not there , they would have missed him , as they would have missed the sounds of bees buzzing against the screen_door in early June ; or the smell of thick tomato_paste - the ripe smell that was both sweet and sour - rising_up from aluminum trays wrapped in fly dotted cheesecloth . |
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[ noun ] any property detected by the olfactory system
Synonyms Used in print (Tristram Coffin, Not to the Swift....)Human nature was not a piece of meat you could tell was bad by its smell . (Gerald Green, The Heartless Light....)One soft evening - that marvelous sea blessed time when the sun 's departing warmth lingers and a smell of spume and wrack haunts everything - Amy had picked herself off the floor and begun to walk . (Frieda Arkin, "The Light of the Sea," in The...)There was the smell of the coast , like a primeval memory , composed of equal parts salt_water , clams , seaweed and northern air . (Robert Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land....)Mike remained in trance ; there was much to grok , loose_ends to puzzle_over and fit into his growing - all that he had seen and heard and been at the Archangel_Foster_Tabernacle ( not just cusp when he and Digby had come face_to_face alone ) - why Bishop_Senator_Boone made him warily uneasy , how Miss_Dawn_Ardent tasted like a water_brother when she was not , the smell of goodness he had incompletely grokked in the jumping_up_and_down and wailing - |
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[ verb ] smell bad
Examples "He rarely washes, and he smells" Used in print (Eugene Burdick, "The Invisible Aborigine"...)`` They swear that every person smells different and every family smells different from every_other . `` They swear that every person smells different and every family smells different from every_other . |
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[ noun ] the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people
Examples "the feel of the city excited him" "a clergyman improved the tone of the meeting" "it had the smell of treason" Used in print (Dolores Hitchens, Footsteps in the Night....)And when he came to examine the scene , there was a certain staginess to it , it had the smell of planning , and a swift suspicion darted into his mind . |
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[ noun ] (physiology) the faculty of smell
Synonyms Related terms |
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