smell 1 S2 W3 / smel / 名词 #

1 [可数名词] the quality that people and animals recognize by using their nose

smell of

The air was filled with the smell of flowers.

What’s that horrible smell?

2 [可数名词] an unpleasant smell :

I think the smell’s getting worse.

3 [不可数名词] the ability to notice or recognize smells :

loss of taste and smell

Dogs have a very good sense of smell .

4 [可数名词，通常单数] an act of smelling something :

Have a smell of this cheese; does it seem all right?

COLLOCATIONS

形容词

strong There was a strong smell of burning in the air.

faint (= not strong ) I noticed a faint smell of perfume.

overpowering (= very strong ) The smell of disinfectant was overpowering.

nice/pleasant/lovely There was a lovely smell of fresh coffee.

bad/unpleasant/horrible etc The smell in the shed was awful.

a strange/funny/odd smell What’s that funny smell?

a sweet smell She liked the sweet smell of hay in the barn.

a delicious smell (= a pleasant smell of food ) There were delicious smells emanating from the kitchen.

a sickly smell (= sweet and unpleasant ) the sweet, sickly smell of decaying human flesh

a pungent smell formal (= strong and unpleasant ) A pungent smell of garlic filled the air.

an acrid smell (= strong and bitter ) The acrid smell of smoke clung about the place.

a musty/stale/sour smell (= old and not fresh ) The clothes in the wardrobe had a damp musty smell.

动词

have a strong/sweet etc smell The flowers had a lovely sweet smell.

be filled with a smell The house was filled with the smell of baking bread.

give off a smell (= produce a smell ) Rubber gives off a strong smell when it is burned.

notice/smell a smell ( also detect a smell formal ) He detected a faint smell of blood.

a smell comes from somewhere ( also a smell emanates from somewhere formal ) A delicious smell of baking came from the kitchen. | He was getting complaints about the smell emanating from his shop.

a smell wafts somewhere (= moves there through the air ) The smells wafting up the stairs from the kitchen were making her feel hungry.

COMMON ERRORS

► Do not say ’ feel the smell of something ‘. Say smell something .

THESAURUS

smell something that you can recognize by breathing in through your nose : the smell from the kitchen | What’s that awful smell? | the sweet smell of roses

whiff something that you smell for a short time : He caught a whiff of her perfume. | a whiff of apple blossom

scent a smell – used especially about the pleasant smell from flowers, plants, or fruit. Also used about the smell left by an animal : The rose had a beautiful scent. | Cats use their scent to mark their territory. | the sharp, dying scent of autumn | the heady scent (= strong scent ) of magnolias

fragrance/perfume a pleasant smell, especially from flowers, plants, or fruit. Fragrance and perfume are more formal than scent : the sweet perfume of the orange blossoms | Each mango has its own special fragrance.

aroma formal a pleasant smell from food or coffee : the aroma of fresh coffee | The kitchen was filled with the aroma of mince pies.

odour British English , odor American English formal an unpleasant smell : An unpleasant odour was coming from the dustbins. | the odor of stale tobacco smoke

pong British English informal an unpleasant smell : What’s that horrible pong?

stink/stench a very strong and unpleasant smell : I couldn’t get rid of the stink of sweat. | The toilet gave off a terrible stench.

smell 2 S2 W3 verb ( past tense and past participle smelled especially American English or smelt / smelt / British English ) #

1 notice a smell [及物动词，不用于进行时] to notice or recognize a particular smell :
I can smell burning. Can you smell something? 2 have a smell [连系动词] to have a particular smell smell adj The stew smelled delicious . Mm! Something smells good ! smell of My clothes smelt of smoke. smell like It smells like rotten eggs. sweet-smelling/foul-smelling etc sweet-smelling flowers 3 have a bad smell [不及物动词，不用于进行时] to have an unpleasant smell :
Your feet smell! The room smelled to high heaven (= had a very bad smell ) . 4 put your nose near something [及物动词] to put your nose near something in order to discover what kind of smell it has SYN sniff :
She bent down and smelt the flowers. 5 have ability [不及物动词] to have the ability to notice and recognize smells :
I’ve got a cold and I can’t smell. 6 smell trouble/danger etc to feel that something is going to happen, especially something bad :
Miller had smelled trouble the moment she said who she was. 7 smell a rat informal to guess that something wrong or dishonest is happening 8 smell wrong/fishy/odd etc informal to seem dishonest or untrue :
The whole thing is beginning to smell fishy to me. → come up/out smelling of roses at rose 1 ( 6 )

COLLOCATIONS

adjectives smell good/nice etc The food smelled good. smell delicious That soup smells delicious. smell fresh Rub your chopping board with lemon to keep it smelling fresh. smell sweet A ripe melon will smell sweet. smell bad/awful etc Cigarettes make your clothes smell awful. smell funny/strange This place smells funny sometimes.

adverbs smell strongly of something The man smelled strongly of alcohol. smell faintly of something His suit smelled faintly of tobacco.

Grammar Use an adjective after smell , not an adverb, to say that something has a good, bad, or strange smell :
The house smelled awful (NOT awfully). You can use smell with of to say what has given something a smell :
Her breath smelled of onions (NOT smelled onions). You can use smell with like to say that something has the same kind of smell as something else :
a glass of wine that smelled like flowers If you say that something or someone smells , you always mean they have a bad smell :
Your socks smell. To say that someone notices a smell, use can smell or just smell , followed by a noun :
I can smell coffee. We smelled smoke.

smell something ↔ out phrasal verb 1 to find something by smelling SYN sniff out :
They use dogs trained to smell out explosives. 2 informal to find or recognize something because you have a natural ability to do this SYN sniff out :
They’ll be able to smell out any corruption.