I. scent 1 /sent/ BrE AmE noun
1 . [countable] a pleasant smell that something has SYN fragrance :
a yellow rose with a lovely scent
scent of
the sweet scent of ripe fruit
2 . [countable] the smell of a particular animal or person that some other animals, for example dogs, can follow
3 . throw/put somebody off the scent to give someone false information to prevent them from catching you or discovering something:
Was he trying to put me off the scent because I had come too close to the truth?
4 . [uncountable and countable] especially British English a liquid that you put on your skin to make it smell pleasant SYN perfume
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THESAURUS
▪ smell something that you can recognize by breathing in through your nose:
the smell from the kitchen
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What’s that awful smell?
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the sweet smell of roses
▪ whiff something that you smell for a short time:
He caught a whiff of her perfume.
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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.
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Cats use their scent to mark their territory.
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the sharp, dying scent of autumn
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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
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Each mango has its own special fragrance.
▪ aroma formal a pleasant smell from food or coffee:
the aroma of fresh coffee
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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.
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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.
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The toilet gave off a terrible stench.
II. scent 2 BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: sentir 'to feel, smell' , from Latin sentire 'to feel' ]
1 . to give a particular smell to something ⇨ perfume :
Honeysuckle and roses scented the air.
2 . written to suddenly think that something is going to happen or exists:
We scented danger and decided to leave.
The press had immediately scented a story.
The trade unions have scented victory.
3 . if an animal scents another animal or a person, it knows that they are near because it can smell them