nosegays

Noun

nosegay (plural nosegays)

1. A small bunch of fragrant flowers or herbs tied in a bundle, often presented as a gift; nosegays were originally intended to be put to the nose for the pleasant sensation or to mask unpleasant odours.
   • [N]o more is Pierce Pennileſſe to be cald the Devils Orator for making a Supplication to the Devill, than hee is to bee helde for a Rhethoritian for ſetting foorth Gabrielis Scurvei Rhetor, wherein hee thought to have knockt out the braines of poore Tullies Orator, but in veritie did nothing elſe...1592, Tho[mas] Nashe, “Here Beginneth the First Epistle and First Booke of Orator Gabriell to the Catilinaries or Philippicks”, in Strange Newes, of the Intercepting Certaine Letters and a Convoy of...

   Synonyms:

   posy

2. (figuratively) An aroma, a scent.
   • The 80-year-old Government Opium and Alkaloid Works in Neemuch smells better than it looks. The turfy-chocolaty nosegay of raw opium wafts from hundreds of milk cans.2007 September 11, Donald G[erald] McNeil, Jr., “In India, a quest to ease the pain of the dying”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 22 Mar 2018