SMELL

[verb] [past:] [UK and ANZ] smelt or [esp. US] smelledMy hands smell of onions. [I]The drain's blocked and smells disgustingly of rotten fish. [I]This bag's made of plastic, but something's been added to make it smell like leather. [I]That cake smells good. [L only +adjective]There's something in the fridge that smells mouldy. [L only +adjective]Your feet smell (= have an unpleasant smell). Why don't you wash them? [I]As I'm your best friend, I think I should tell you that your breath smells. [I]If you come up smelling of roses, a difficult, embarrassing or unpleasant situation has not had a bad effect on you when it was expected that it would.When the results of the fraud investigation were announced last week, the staff came up smelling of roses.If a situation smells fishy to you, you believe that there might be some dishonest activity happening.Webber's account of what happened smells distinctly fishy to me.When something smells out a place/smells a place out (US also smells up), it makes the place unpleasant by filling it with its smell. That aftershave of yours is smelling out the whole house. -smelling [suffix]The prisoners are being held in an evil-smelling barn (= one which has an unpleasant smell) near the police headquarters.When we got back to the apartment the place was full of foul-smelling smoke.Bowls of sweet-smelling flowers had been placed on the table.