scent

scent [sent]

vt.

[ME senten < OFr sentir < L sentire, to feel: see SEND¹]

1. to smell; perceive by the olfactory sense

2. to get a hint or inkling of; suspect [to scent trouble]

3. to fill with an odor; give fragrance to; perfume

vi.

to hunt by the sense of smell

n.

1. a smell; odor

2. the sense of smell

3. a manufactured fluid preparation used to give fragrance; perfume

4. an odor left by an animal, by which it is tracked in hunting

5. a track followed in hunting

6. any clue by which something is followed or detected

7. an intuitive capacity for discovering or detecting [a scent for news]

SYN.- SMELL

scented

adj.

scentless

adj.

SYN.- SCENT, in this comparison, implies a relatively faint but pervasive smell, esp. one characteristic of a particular thing [the scent of apple blossoms ]; PERFUME suggests a relatively strong, but usually pleasant, smell, either natural or manufactured [the rich perfume of gardenias ]; FRAGRANCE always implies an agreeable, sweet smell, esp. of growing things [the fragrance of a freshly mowed field ]; BOUQUET is specifically applied to the fragrance of a wine or brandy; REDOLENCE implies a rich, pleasant combination of smells [the redolence of a grocery ] -ANT. STENCH, STINK