I. stink 1 /stɪŋk/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense stank /stæŋk/, past participle stunk /stʌŋk/) [intransitive]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: stincan ]
1 . to have a strong and very unpleasant smell:
It stinks in here!
stink of
His breath stank of alcohol.
The toilets stank to high heaven (=stank very much) .
2 . spoken used to say that something is bad, unfair, dishonest etc:
Don’t eat there – the food stinks!
The whole justice system stinks.
stink something ↔ out British English , stink something ↔ up American English phrasal verb
to fill a place with a very unpleasant smell:
Those onions are stinking the whole house out.
II. stink 2 BrE AmE noun [countable usually singular]
1 . a very bad smell SYN stench
stink of
the stink of burning rubber
2 . cause/kick up/make etc a stink to complain very strongly:
Activists have raised a stink about the shipments of nuclear waste.
3 . work/run/go like stink British English old-fashioned to work etc as fast and as well as you can:
We had to work like stink to meet the deadline.
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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.