smede 
smedet, . [MI'I.; <)'. sm<-<l<lui.] Flour; fine 
powder. 
The emf'lrs of barly. 
JKS. iinc. Jtfnf. f. SOS, XV. Cent. (HalliweU.) 
smee (suit"), . [Prob. in part a reduction of 
smeatk-i-see stneatfr. Cf. .(-.] 1. The mer- 
irinisrr, Mn-/H'/liis nlhi'llits: same as smew. 2. 
The pochard, Piiliijulii fi-riiut. [Norfolk, Eng.] 
3. The widgeon or ba\dp&te,Marecapenelo]>e. 
[Norfolk, Eng.] 4. The pintail duck, Diijilu 
itcutti. Also smethe. Trumbull, 1888. [New 
Jersey.] 
Smee cell. See cell, 8. 
smee-duck (sme'duk), n. Same as smee. 
smeekt, An obsolete variant of smoke. 
Smee's battery. See cell, 8. 
smeetert, An obsolete variant of simitar. 
smeeth 1 (smeTH), a. and v. A dialectal form 
of smooth. 
smeeth 2 t (srneth), r. t. [Cf . smother.'] To smoke ; 
rub or blacken with soot. Imp. Diet. 
smegma (smeg'ma), . [NL.. < Gr. a/iijy/ia, 
a/aqfia, an unguent, soap, ( fffafxetV) rub, G^av, 
rub, wipe, smear: see smectite.'] Same as seba- 
ceous humor (which see, under sebaceous). 
Prepuce smegma, or smegma prseputil, the whitish, 
cheesy substance which accumulates under the prepuce 
and around the base of the glans. It consists mainly of 
desquamated cells of the epidermis of the parts, impreg- 
nated with the odoriferous secretion of Tyson's glands. 
Sometimes called simply smegma. 
smegmatic (smeg-mat'ik), a. [< Gr. ap/y/ia(r-), 
an unguent, soap: see smegma.] Of the nature 
of smegma or of soap; soapy; cleansing; de- 
tersive. Imp. Diet. 
smeldet. An obsolete preterit of smelt. 
smelite (sme'lit), n. [< Gr. n/jffAr/, soap (< 
audv, rub, wipe, smear), + -te 2 .] A kind of 
kaolin, or porcelain clay, found in connec- 
tion with porphyry iu Hungary. It is worked 
into ornaments in the lathe and polished. 
Weale. 
smell (smel), v.; pret. and pp. smelled, smelt, 
ppr. smelling. [< ME. smellen, smullen, smullen 
(pret. smelde, smilde, smulde, also smoltc, pp. 
ismelled)(not found in AS. ), smell ; c f . D. smeulen 
= ~LG.smolcn, smelen, smolder; Dan. smut, dust, 
powder. Cf. smolder, smother.] I. trans. 1. To 
perceive through the nose, by means of the ol- 
factory nerves; perceive the scent of; scent; 
nose. 
Anon ther com so swete a smul as the! hit from heuene 
were, 
That al hit smulde with gret loye that in the cuntre weren 
there. Holy Rood (E. E. T. S.), p. 67. 
I smell sweet savours and I feel soft things. 
Shot., T. of the S., Ind., ii. 73. 
Vespers are over, though not so long but that I can 
smell the heavy resinous incense as I pass the church. 
Dickens, Uncommercial Traveller, xxviii. 
2. To perceive as if by smell; perceive in any 
way; especially, to detect by peculiar sagacity 
or a sort of instinct ; smell out. 
From that time forward I began to smell the word of 
God, and forsook the school-doctors and such fooleries. 
Latimer, Sermons, p. 335. 
Come, these are tricks; I smell 'em ; I will go. 
Fletcher (and another), Noble Gentleman, ii. 1. 
I like this old Fellow, I smell more Money. 
Steele, Grief A-la-Mode, iv. 1. 
3. To inhale the smell or odor of; test by the 
sense of smell: oftener intransitive, with o/or 
at TO smell a rat. See <i . To smell out, to find 
out by prying or by minute investigation. 
What a man cannot smell out he may spy into. 
Shak., Lear, L 5. 22. 
To smell the footlights. See footlights. 
II. intrans. I. To give out an odor; affect 
the olfactory sense: as, the rose smells sweet. 
A swote smel ther com a-non out of, that smelde in-to al 
Holy Rood(E. E. T. S.), p. 27. 
The king is but a man as I am ; the violet smells to him 
as it doth to me ; . . . all his senses have but human con- 
Shak., Hen. V., iv. 1. 106. 
And now look about you, and see how pleasantly that 
meadow looks ; nay, and the earth smells as sweetly too. 
/. Walton, Complete Angler, p. 107. 
2. Specifically, to give out an offensive odor- 
as, how the place smells! 
Ha- Dost thou think Alexander looked o' this fashion 
Hor. E'en so. 
Ham. And smelt so? pah ! [Puts down the skull. 
Shak., Hamlet, v. 1. 221. 
3. To have an odor (of a specified kind); be 
scented with: with of: as, to smell of roses. 
A dim shop, low in the roof and smelling strong of glue 
and footlights. 
R. L. Stevenson, A Penny Plain, 2d. Coloured. 
5714 
4. Figuratively, to appear to be of a certain 
nature or character, as indicated by the smell : 
generally followed by like or of. 
"Thou smells of a coward," said Robin Hood, 
What say you to young Master Fenton? he capers, he 
dances, he has eyes of youth, he writes verses, he speaks 
holiday, he smells April and May. 
Shak., M. W. of W., iii. 2. 69. 
These are circumstances which smell strongly of im- 
posture and contrivance. Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, II. 1. 
5. To inhale a smell or odor as a gratification 
or as a test of kind or quality, etc.: colloquially 
with of, formerly sometimes with to or unto. 
To pulle a rose of alle that route, . . . 
And smellen to it where I wente. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 1669. 
Smell to this flower ; here Nature has her excellence. 
Fletcher (and another ?), Prophetess, v. 3. 
I'm not nice, nor care who plucks the Rose I smell to. 
provided it has not lost its Sweetness. 
Mrs. Centlivre, Platonick Lady, i. 
A young girl's heart, which he held in his hand, and 
Kmelled to, like a rosebud. 
Haurthorne, Blithedale Romance, ix. 
6. To snuff; try to smell something; figurative- 
ly ; to try to smell out something: generally 
with about: as, to go smelling about A smell- 
ing committee, an investigating "committee. [Colloq., 
u. s.] To smell of the footlights, of the lamp, of 
the roastt, etc. Bee footlights, etc. 
smell (smel), . [< ME. smel, smil, smul, smeal, 
smeol (not found in AS.): see the verb.] 1. 
The faculty of perceiving by the nose; sense- 
perception through the olfactory nerves; the 
olfactory faculty or function ; the physiological 
process or function whereby certain odoriferous 
smelt 
grees of strength, representing a strong, penetrating, and 
disgusting odor ; stink is not for polite use. 
smellable (smel'a-bl), a. [< smrll + -able.] 
Capable of being smelled. [Rare.] 
An apple is a complex of visible, tangible, smellable, 
tastable qualities. Science, VIII. 377. 
smeller (smel'er), . [< smell + -erl.] 1. One 
who or that which smells or perceives the smell 
of anything; also, one who tests anything by 
smelling. 2. One who or that which smells 
of anything, is scented, or has odor. 
Such nasty smellers 
That, if they'd been unfurnished of club-truncheons, 
They might have cudgell'd me with their very stink, 
It was so strong and sturdy. 
Fletcher (and another ?X Nice Valour, v. 1. 
3. The nose; in the plural, the nostrils. [Slang.] 
For he on stnellers, you must know, 
Recelv'd a sad unlucky blow. 
Cotton, Scarronides, p. 64. (Dames.) 
4. Familiarly, a feeler; a tactile hair or pro- 
cess ; especially, a rictal yibrissa, as one of a 
cat's whiskers. 5. A prying fellow ; one who 
tries to smell out something; a sneaking spy. 
[Slang.] 
smell-feast (smel'fest), n. [< smell, v., + obj., 
feast. In def. 2 < smell, n., + feast.'] 1. One 
who finds and frequents good tables; an epi- 
cure. [Low.] 
No more smell-feast Vitellio 
Smiles on his master for a meal or two. 
Bp. Hatt, Satires, VI. L 47. 
2. A feast at which the guests are supposed to 
feed upon the odors of the viands. Imp. Diet. 
smelling (smel'ing), . [< ME. smellinge, smell- 
ynge; verbal n. of smell, v.] The sense of 
" ; olfaction. 
faction ; scent: often with the definite article, as 
one of the special senses: as, the smell in dogs 
is keen. The essential organ of smell is located in a 
special part or lobe of the brain, the rhinencephalon, or 
olfactory lobe, whence are given off more or fewer olfac- 
tory nerves, which pass out of the cranial cavity into the 
nasal organ, or nose, in the mucous or Schneiderian mem- 
brane of the interior of which they ramify, so that air 
laden with odoriferous particles can affect the nerves 
when it is drawn into or through the nasal passages. In 
man the sense of smell is very feeble and imperfect in 
comparison with that of many animals, especially of the 
carnivores, which pursue their prey by scent, and rumi- 
nants, which escape their enemies by the same means. 
Smell in the lower animals seems to be the guiding sense 
in determining their choice of food. 
Memory, imagination, old sentiments and associations, 
are more readily reached through the sense of smell than 
by almost any other channel. 0. W. Holmes, Autocrat, iv. 
Smell is a sensation excited by the contact with the ol- 
factory region of certain substances, usually in a gaseous 
condition and necessarily in a state of fine subdivision. 
Encyc. Brit., XXII. 166. 
It will be observed that sound is more promptly reacted 
on than either sight or touch. Taste and smell are slower 
than either. W. James, Prin. of Psychology, I. 96. 
His [Thoreau's] smell was so dainty that he could per- 
ceive the fojtor of dwelling-houses as he passed them by 
at night. R. L. Stevenson, Thoreau, i. 
2. That quality of anything which is or may 
be smelled ; an odoriferous effluvium ; an odor 
or scent, whether agreeable or offensive; a 
fragrance, perfume, or stench; aroma: as, the 
smell of thyme ; the smell of bilge-water. 
Theise men lyven be the smelle of wylde Apples. 
Mandeville, Travels, p. 297. 
Suettere smul ne myste be then the smoke smulde 
Holy Rood (E. E. T. S.), p. 42. 
And there came a smell off the shore like the smelt of a 
garden. Winthrop, Hist New England, I. 27. 
Impatient of some crowded room's close smell. 
Mrs. Browning, Aurora Leigh, iv. 
3. A faint impression ; a subtle suggestion ; a 
hint ; a trace : as, the poem has a smett of the 
woods. 4. An act of smelling: as, he took a 
smell at the bottle. = gyn. Smell, Scent, Odor, Savor, 
Perfume, Fragrance, Aroma, Stench, Stink. Smell and 
scent express the physical sense, the exercise ot the sense, 
and the thing which appeals to the sense. The others 
have only the last of these three meanings. Of the nine 
words the first four may express that which is pleasant or 
unpleasant, the next three only that which is pleasant, the 
last two only that which is very unpleasant. Smell is the 
1 Cor. xii. 17. 
smelling-bottle (smering-bot'l), n. A small 
portable bottle or flask, usually of fanciful form 
or decorated, (a) for containing smelling-salts, 
or (6) for containing an agreeable perfume. 
Handkerchiefs were pulled out, smelling bottle* were 
handed round ; hysterical sobs and screams were heard. 
Macaulay, Warren Hastings. 
smelling-salts (smel'ing-salts), w. pi. A prep- 
aration of ammonium carbonate with some 
agreeable scent, as lavender or bergamot, used 
as a stimulant and restorative in faiutness and 
for the relief of headache. 
At this point she was so entirely overcome that a squad- 
ron of cousins and aunts had to come to the rescue, with 
perfumes and smelling-salts and fans, before she was suf- 
ficiently restored. Harper's Mag., LXXIX. 547. 
smell-less (smel'les), a. [< smell + -less.] 1. 
Having no sense of smell; not olf active. 2. 
Having no smell or odor; scentless. 
smell-smockt (smel'smok), . [< smell + obj. 
smock.] 1. One who runs after women; a li- 
centious man. [Low.] 
If thou dost not prove as arrant a smell-smock as any 
the town affords in a term-time, I'll lose my judgment. 
Middleton, More Dissemblers Besides Women, i. 4. 
2. The lady's-smock, Cardaminepratensis; rare- 
ly, the wind-flower, Anemone nemorosa. Brit- 
ten and Holland, Eng. Plant Names. [Prov. 
Eng.] 
smell-trap (smel'trap), n. A drain-trap (which 
see) ; a stink-trap. 
"Where have you been staying?" "With young Lord 
Vieuxbois, among high art and painted glass, spade 
farms, and model smeU-traps." Kingsley, Yeast, vi. 
smelly (smel'i), a. [< smett + -yi.] Having 
an odor, especially an offensive one. [Colloq.] 
Nasty, dirty, frowzy, grubby, smelly old monks. 
Kingsley, Water-Babies, p. 186. 
smelt 1 (smelt), v. [Formerly also smilt; not 
found in ME.; < MD. smelten, smilten, D. smelten 
= MLG. smelten, LG. smulten = OHG. smelzen, 
smelzan, smalzjan, MHG. smelzen, G. schmelzen 
= Icel. smelta = Sw. smMta = Dan. smelte, fuse, 
smelt; causal of G. schmelzen = Sw. smdlta = 
Dan. smelte, melt, dissolve, become liquid ; cf . 
MD. smalt, grease or melted butter, D. smalt, 
enamel, = OHG. MHG. smalz, G. scnmalz, fat, 
life: as, the scent of game; the scent of the tea-rose. Odor 
is little more than a Latin substitute for smett: as, the odor 
taste or flavor, proceeding especially from some article of 
food : as, the savor of garlic. Perfume is generally a strong 
or rich but agreeable smell. Fragrance is best used to 
express fresh, delicate, and delicious odors, especially 
such as emanate from living things : as, the fragrance of 
the violet, of new-mown hay, of the breath of an infant 
Aroma should be restricted to a somewhat spicy smell 
as, the aroma of roasted coffee, or of the musk-rose. Stench 
and stmk are historically the same word, in different de- 
lil, enamel: see smalt, amel, enamel. 
Connection with melt is doubtful.] I. trans. 
To fuse ; melt ; specifically, to treat (ore) in the 
large way, and chiefly in a furnace or by the aid 
of heat, for the purpose of separating the con- 
tained metal. Metallurgical operations carried on in 
the moist way, as the amalgamation of gold and silver ores 
in pans, treatment by lixiviation, etc., are not generally 
designated by the term smelting. Establishments where 
this is done are more commonly called mills or reduction- 
works, and those in which iron is smelted are usually 
designated as blast-furuaces or iron-furnaces. The vari- 
