PERFUME


Meaning of PERFUME in English

I. per ‧ fume 1 /ˈpɜːfjuːm $ ˈpɜːr-/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable and countable]

[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: French ; Origin: parfum , probably from Old Provençal perfumar 'to perfume' , from Latin fumare 'to smoke' ]

1 . a liquid with a strong pleasant smell that women put on their skin or clothing to make themselves smell nice SYN scent :

She was wearing the perfume that he’d bought her.

2 . a sweet or pleasant smell SYN scent :

It had the delicate perfume of roses.

—perfumed adjective :

perfumed soap

• • •

COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 1)

■ verbs

▪ wear perfume

What's that perfume you are wearing?

▪ dab perfume on something (=quickly put perfume on )

She dabbed some perfume on her throat.

▪ spray yourself with perfume

Jody sprayed herself with some of her mother’s perfume.

▪ reek of perfume (=smell strongly of perfume)

It seemed to Polly that Sasha always left the bathroom reeking of horrible perfume.

▪ smell of perfume

Her coat smelt of cheap perfume and cigarettes.

■ adjectives

▪ strong

I don't like wearing very strong perfume.

▪ heavy (=strong)

She smelled of a heavy perfume he associated with his mother.

▪ exotic (=unusual and interesting because it seems foreign)

The dancer left a waft of exotic perfume in the air.

▪ cheap/expensive

He bought her a bottle of expensive French perfume.

■ phrases

▪ a bottle/jar of perfume

He gave me a bottle of my favourite perfume.

▪ the smell/scent of perfume

The smell of perfume filled the air.

▪ a whiff/hint of perfume (=a very slight smell of perfume )

As she lifted the letter, she caught the faintest hint of perfume.

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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)

■ adjectives

▪ sweet

She breathed in the sweet perfume of the roses.

▪ heady (=strong and sweet)

In early summer, lilacs finally open and release their heady perfume.

▪ faint

the faint perfume of a spring woodland

▪ delicate

The flowers have a delicate perfume similar to cowslips.

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THESAURUS

▪ smell something that you can recognize by breathing in through your nose:

the smell from the kitchen

|

What’s that awful smell?

|

the sweet smell of roses

▪ whiff something that you smell for a short time:

He caught a whiff of her perfume.

|

a whiff of apple blossom

▪ scent a smell – used especially about the pleasant smell from flowers, plants, or fruit. Also used about the smell left by an animal:

The rose had a beautiful scent.

|

Cats use their scent to mark their territory.

|

the sharp, dying scent of autumn

|

the heady scent (=strong scent) of magnolias

▪ fragrance/perfume a pleasant smell, especially from flowers, plants, or fruit. Fragrance and perfume are more formal than scent :

the sweet perfume of the orange blossoms

|

Each mango has its own special fragrance.

▪ aroma formal a pleasant smell from food or coffee:

the aroma of fresh coffee

|

The kitchen was filled with the aroma of mince pies.

▪ odour British English , odor American English formal an unpleasant smell:

An unpleasant odour was coming from the dustbins.

|

the odor of stale tobacco smoke

▪ pong British English informal an unpleasant smell:

What’s that horrible pong?

▪ stink/stench a very strong and unpleasant smell:

I couldn’t get rid of the stink of sweat.

|

The toilet gave off a terrible stench.

II. per ‧ fume 2 /ˈpɜːfjuːm $ pərˈfjuːm/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]

1 . literary to make a place have a sweet pleasant smell:

Lilacs perfumed the air.

2 . to put perfume on something

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.