Scent
noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A distinctive smell. countable, uncountable
"the scent of flowers / of a skunk"
- 2 any property detected by the olfactory system wordnet
- 3 A smell left by an animal that may be used for tracing. countable, uncountable
"The dogs picked up / caught the scent but then quickly lost it."
- 4 an odor left in passing by which a person or animal can be traced wordnet
- 5 The sense of smell. countable, uncountable
"I believe the bloodhound has the best scent of all dogs."
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- 6 a distinctive odor that is pleasant wordnet
- 7 A substance (usually liquid) created to provide a pleasant smell. uncountable
"a scent shop"
- 8 Any trail or trace that can be followed to find something or someone, such as the paper left behind in a paperchase. countable, figuratively, uncountable
"The minister's off-hand remark put journalists on the scent of a cover-up."
- 9 Sense, perception. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"A fit false dreame, that can delude the sleepers sent."
- 1 To detect the scent of; to discern by the sense of smell. transitive
"The hounds scented the fox in the woods."
- 2 apply perfume to wordnet
- 3 To inhale in order to detect the scent of (something). ambitransitive
"I paused to scent the breeze as I entered the valley."
- 4 catch the scent of; get wind of wordnet
- 5 To have a suspicion of; to detect the possibility of (something). figuratively, transitive
"I scented trouble when I saw them running down the hill towards me."
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- 6 cause to smell or be smelly wordnet
- 7 To impart an odour to, to cause to have a particular smell. transitive
"Scent the air with burning sage before you begin your meditation."
- 8 To have a smell; (figuratively) to give an impression (of something). intransitive, obsolete
"Thunderbolts & lightnings […] do sent strongly of brimstone:"
- 9 To hunt animals by means of the sense of smell.
Example
More examples"The flowers give off a very pleasant scent."
Etymology
From Middle English sent (noun) and senten (verb), from Old French sentir (“to feel, perceive, smell, sense”), from Latin sentīre (“to feel, sense”). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sent- (“to feel”), and thus related to Saterland Frisian Sin (“sense”), West Frisian sin (“sense”), Dutch zin (“sense, meaning”), Low German Sinn (“sense”), Luxembourgish Sënn (“sense, perception”), German Sinn (“sense”). The -c- appeared in the 17th century, possibly by influence of ascent, descent, etc., or by influence of science.