scent.
A distinctive smell.
Meaning & usage
A distinctive smell.
the scent of flowers / of a skunk
to give off / release / exude a scent
A smell left by an animal that may be used for tracing.
The dogs picked up / caught the scent but then quickly lost it.
The sense of smell.
I believe the bloodhound has the best scent of all dogs.
A substance (usually liquid) created to provide a pleasant smell.
a scent shop
a scent bazaar
Any trail or trace that can be followed to find something or someone, such as the paper left behind in a paperchase.
The minister's off-hand remark put journalists on the scent of a cover-up.
The tip put the detectives on a false scent / the wrong scent.
Sense, perception.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English sent (noun) and senten (verb), from Old French sentir (“to feel, perceive, smell, sense”), from Latin sentiō, 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.
To detect the scent of; to discern by the sense of smell.
The hounds scented the fox in the woods.
To inhale in order to detect the scent of (something).
To have a suspicion of; to detect the possibility of (something).
I scented trouble when I saw them running down the hill towards me.
To impart an odour to, to cause to have a particular smell.
Scent the air with burning sage before you begin your meditation.
To have a smell; (figuratively) to give an impression (of something).
To hunt animals by means of the sense of smell.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English sent (noun) and senten (verb), from Old French sentir (“to feel, perceive, smell, sense”), from Latin sentiō, 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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.