Dictionary entry

Smell (2)

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Smell, v. i. 1. To affect the olfactory nerves; to have an odor or scent; — often followed by of; as, to smell of smoke, or of musk.

2. To have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savor; as, a report smells of calumny.

Praises in an enemy are superfluous, or smell of craft. Milton.

3. To exercise the sense of smell. Ex. xxx. 38.

4. To exercise sagacity. Shak.