smell

/smel/

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Sure! Let's break down the word "smell" in a way that's easy to understand for new English learners.

Definition:

"Smell" can be both a noun and a verb.

Usage Instructions:

• Use "smell" when discussing odors or scents.
• Use it in both literal (like smelling flowers) and figurative senses (like sensing trouble).

Examples:

• Noun: "The smell of fresh bread made me feel hungry."
• Verb: "I love to smell the flowers in the garden."

Advanced Usage:

• You can use "smell" in more complex sentences, like:
  • “His argument smacked of dishonesty,” which uses "smell" in a figurative way to suggest something negative.
  • “This document smells of plagiarism,” meaning it seems to be copied from someone else’s work.

Word Variants:

• Smells (plural noun): Refers to different types of scents, e.g., “The smells of spices filled the air.”
• Smelled (past tense verb): Example: “I smelled something delicious cooking.”
• Smelling (present participle): Example: “She is smelling the flowers.”

Different Meanings:

• Smell can also refer to the sensation produced when your olfactory receptors (the parts of your nose that detect odors) detect certain chemicals in the air.

Synonyms:

• Odor: A general term for a smell, which can be pleasant or unpleasant.
• Scent: Usually refers to a pleasant smell.
• Aroma: Often used for strong or pleasant smells, especially in food.

Idioms:

• "Smell a rat": This means to suspect that something is wrong or that someone is being dishonest.
• "Smell trouble": To sense that a problem is coming.

Phrasal Verb:

• "Smell out": To find out something by investigation or intuition. For example, “The detective smelled out the truth.”

Academic

Noun

1. the act of perceiving the odor of something
2. the faculty that enables us to distinguish scents
3. the general atmosphere of a place or situation and the effect that it has on people
   • the feel of the city excited him
   • a clergyman improved the tone of the meeting
   • it had the smell of treason
4. any property detected by the olfactory system
5. the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
   • she loved the smell of roses

Verb

1. become aware of not through the senses but instinctively
   • I sense his hostility
   • i smell trouble
   • smell out corruption
2. have an element suggestive (of something)
   • his speeches smacked of racism
   • this passage smells of plagiarism
3. smell bad
   • He rarely washes, and he smells
4. emit an odor
   • The soup smells good
5. inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense

Synonyms

• smelling
• sense of smell
• olfaction
• olfactory modality
• spirit
• tone
• feel
• feeling
• flavor
• flavour
• look
• olfactory property
• aroma
• odor
• odour
• scent
• olfactory sensation
• olfactory perception
• smell out
• sense
• smack
• reek