smell
(noun, verb)
past tense: smelled
LISTEN
A smell is something that you can sense with your nose.
- I love the smell of coffee.
To smell means ‘to have a smell.’
- My clothes smell of smoke.
Smell can also mean ‘to smell bad.’
- Your feet smell!
If you smell something it means that you use your nose to sense it.
- I smelled your perfume when I came in the room.
Common uses
When we don’t believe someone or when we think that something isn’t true, we can say that something smells fishy. For example, “He said there’s nothing wrong with the car but something smells fishy to me.”
In pop culture
The US expression wake up and smell the coffee means that you should recognize reality, even if you don’t want to. This song by the band The Cranberries is about that concept.
There are other meanings of smell.
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