Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use scent in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb

Scent means a distinctive smell. Example: “I believe the bloodhound has the best scent of all dogs.”

Examples of scent by meaning

nounA distinctive smell.

  • Behind me the forest stood wrapped in mist, its scents still sleeping.1973, Mary Stewart, The Hollow Hills, New York: William Morrow, Book 3, p. 357
  • The air is thick with the unexpected scent of rain.2014, Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor, chapter 32, in Dust, London: Granta Books, page 289

nounThe sense of smell.

  • I believe the bloodhound has the best scent of all dogs.

nounA substance (usually liquid) created to provide a pleasant smell.

  • a scent shop
  • a scent bazaar
  • He receives deputations from the bazaar, and they all chew betel nut and smear one another’s hands with scent.1924 June 4, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, chapter 22, in A Passage to India, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC, part II (Caves), page 197

nounAny trail or trace that can be followed to find something or someone, such as the paper left behind in a paperchase.

  • The minister's off-hand remark put journalists on the scent of a cover-up.
  • Gullivant had to be firmly identified with Compton, the convict, in such a way as to bring the police hot on the scent.1926, Nevil Shute, chapter 3, in Marazan, London: Cassell

verbTo detect the scent of; to discern by the sense of smell.

  • The hounds scented the fox in the woods.
  • Why, Maggie could scent a fire before it started, almost.1988, Anne Tyler, Breathing Lessons, Penguin, Part 3, Chapter 2, p. 279

verbTo inhale in order to detect the scent of (something).

  • One night he sprang from sleep with a start, eager-eyed, nostrils quivering and scenting,1903, Jack London, chapter 7, in The Call of the Wild, New York: Macmillan, page 201

verbTo have a suspicion of; to detect the possibility of (something).

  • I scented trouble when I saw them running down the hill towards me.
  • Cope seemed to scent a challenge and accepted it.1919, Henry Blake Fuller, chapter 11, in Bertram Cope’s Year, Chicago: R.F. Seymour, page 105
  • A mysterious scene to me then—yet I scented that there was something momentous about it, though I could not tell what.1978, Lawrence Durrell, chapter 1, in Livia, London: Faber and Faber, page 48

verbTo impart an odour to, to cause to have a particular smell.

  • Scent the air with burning sage before you begin your meditation.
  • You adorn yourself and scent yourself and sit with him in a comfortable way—1999, Ahdaf Soueif, chapter 18, in The Map of Love, London: Bloomsbury, page 300

More sentences with scent

  • The dog sniffed around the park, searching for a nice scent.From the entry sniff
  • The roses give forth a very heady scent at this time of the year.From the entry give forth
  • A male fox will scent mark his territory during mating season.From the entry scent mark
  • The shirt was imbued with his scent.From the entry imbue
  • Hounds are said to babble, or to be babbling, when they are too noisy after having found a good scent.From the entry babble
  • The perfumes of plants like jasmine could only be extracted by enfleurage, as other methods of the time would denature the scents.From the entry enfleurage
  • The dogs gave positive indications in specific areas of the property, indicating the scent of human decomposition.2026 July 27, Nicholas Muhoro, “The Disappearance of Kayla Berg and the Condemned House Where Her Trail Ended”, in Skip Boring, archived…. From the entry decomposition
  • The French love of scent continues, with most Françaises regularly using it.2022, Aloïs Guinut, “Inside Parisian Style”, in The Little Book of Paris Style, Welbeck, →ISBN, page 23. From the entry Française
  • It is just as enamorating as the scent of her breath when we kiss.2021, Richard Rizat Kashung, The Blue Harbinger (Esther), Blue Rose Publishers, page 58. From the entry enamorate
  • The page was indeed still damp and the scent of fresh aniline dye flooded Millie with euphoria.2020, Louise Erdrich, The Night Watchman, Corsair (2021), page 365. From the entry aniline
  • For a moment I thought I did, a scent so heady and sweet it made me dizzy.2017, Carol Goodman, The Widow’s House, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow, →ISBN, page 89. From the entry maple syrupy
  • When the scent was replaced by the maple syrupy smell of old paper, I opened my eyes.2017, Carol Goodman, The Widow’s House, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow, →ISBN, page 89. From the entry maple syrupy
  • They fill the room with a strong scent, covering up any dank smell preexisting.2015 May 4, Randall Scott, “Chapter Four - Getting Started”, in The Complete Guide to Cannabis, Randall Scott. From the entry sploof
  • The sources of the heavenly scent during and immediately after it rains are petrichor and geosmin.2012, Diane Olson, A Nature Lover's Almanac, Gibbs Smith, →ISBN. From the entry petrichor
  • Not so in Peru, where grilled beef heart is the unofficial state scent.2012 February, “Eat Your Heart Out”, in San Diego Magazine. From the entry love muscle
  • Is it wrong to harumph when the scent of spitting fat drifts towards your washing line?2009 August 25, Paula Cocozza, “The rules of back-garden etiquette”, in The Guardian. From the entry harumph
  • At the New Jersey factory on Thursday, the air was thick with a candylike scent.2009 February 6, Michael Barbaro, “In New York City, an Aromatic Mystery Solved”, in New York Times. From the entry candylike
  • "Mm, they smell great." Connie closed her eyes and sniffed the sweet scent of anisette.2009, Margaret Masci, Longing for Wickhaven, Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 115. From the entry pizzel
  • A toilet water with a strong scent, originally produced at Cologne, Germany.2008, Andrew Delahunty, “eau de Cologne”, in From Bonbon to Cha-cha: Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases, Oxford University…. From the entry toilet water
  • Scents, food smells, and cigarette smoke were the most frequent offending odors reported by osmophobic migraineurs.2008, Dara G. Jamieson, Headache Medicine: Questions and Answers, page 113. From the entry migraineur
  • You'd think it might hold the scent of smoke, or an atticky perfume of mouse and moth-wing.2008, Melissa J Delbridge, Family Bible. From the entry atticky
  • The scent of Damask roses drifted in from his gardens on the warm air.2008, Bertrice Small, chapter 7, in The Sorceress of Belmair (The World of Hetar; 4), Toronto, Ont.: HQN, →ISBN, page 177. From the entry damask rose
  • It was a daffodil scent; it symbolized spring and the hope that spring always brings.2007, Celia Lyttelton, The Scent Trail: An Olfactory Odyssey, London […]: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 37. From the entry concrete
  • Scent the entire batch and then color half with the blue colorant.2007, Alicia Grosso, The Everything Soapmaking Book: Recipes and Techniques, page 125. From the entry marble

Meaning of scent

  1. noun A distinctive smell.
  2. noun A smell left by an animal that may be used for tracing.
  3. noun The sense of smell.

Full definition of scent

Questions about scent in a sentence

How do you use scent in a sentence?
Scent is used as a noun and verb. For example: “I believe the bloodhound has the best scent of all dogs.”
What is a short sentence with scent?
“a scent bazaar”
What does scent mean?
Scent means a distinctive smell.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: scent (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “How to use scent in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/scent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.