(at a smell)
111smell a rat — tv. to suspect that something is wrong. □ He smelled a rat the minute he came into the room. □ Keep everything normal. I don’t want her to smell a rat. She has never had a surprise party before …
112smell blood — tv. to be ready for a fight; to be ready to attack; to be ready to act. (Like sharks, which are sent into a frenzy by the smell of blood.) □ Lefty was sur ounded, and you could tell that the guys from the other gang smelled blood. □ The lawyer… …
113smell like a rose — in. to seem innocent. □ I came out of the whole mess smelling like a rose, even though I caused all the trouble. □ Tiffany pretended that she was the only one who should smell like a rose, but I knew different …
114smell the stuff — Go to smell it up …
115smell to (high) heaven — 1. in. to smell very bad. □ This kitchen smells to high heaven. What besides garlic are you cooking? □ Where has this dog been? It smells to heaven. 2. in. to give signals that cause suspicion. □ This deal is messed up. It smells to high heaven …
116smell — [12] Smell is something of a mystery word. It is assumed to go back to an Old English *smiellan or *smyllan, but no such verb has been recorded, nor have any related forms in other languages been pin pointed for certain. One theory links it with… …
117smell the bottom — phrasal or smell the ground of a ship : to lose speed in shallow water and often to veer off course or become heavy on the helm …
118smell-feast — ˈ ̷ ̷ˌ ̷ ̷ noun Etymology: smell (I) + feast : one given to finding out and getting invited to good feasts : parasite, sponger …
119smell the ground — phrasal see smell the bottom …
120smell something up — permeate an area with a bad smell he smelled up the whole house …