To perceive through the nose, by means of the olfactory nerves; perceive the scent of; scent; nose.To perceive as if by smell; perceive in any way; especially, to detect by peculiar sagacity or a sort of instinct; smell out.To inhale the smell or odor of; test by the sense of smell: oftener intransitive, with of or at.To give out an odor; affect the olfactory sense: as, the rose smells sweet.Specifically, to give out an offensive odor: as, how the place smells!To have an odor (of a specified kind); be scented with: with of: as, to smell of roses.Figuratively, to appear to be of a certain nature or character, as indicated by the smell: generally followed by like or of.To inhale a smell or odor as a gratification or as a test of kind or quality, etc.: colloquially with of, formerly sometimes with to or unto.To snuff; try to smell something; figuratively, to try to smell out something: generally with about: as, to go smelling about.n. The faculty of perceiving by the nose; senseperception through the olfactory nerves; the olfactory faculty or function; the physiological process or function whereby certain odoriferous qualities of bodies, as scent or effluvium, are perceived and recognized through sensation; olfaction; scent; often with the definite article, as one of the special senses: as, the smell in dogs is keen.n. That quality of anything which is or may be smelled; an odoriferous effluvium; an odor or scent, whether agreeable or offensive; a fragrance, perfume, or stench; aroma: as, the smell of thyme; the smell of bilge-water.n. A faint impression; a subtle suggestion; a hint; a trace: as, the poem has a smell of the woods.n. An act of smelling: as, he took a smell at the bottle.