Word.ws English Dictionary

smell a rat

UK/ˈsmɛl ə ˈɹæt/

smell a rat verb: to sense something suspicious.

Verb

smell a rat (third-person singular simple present smells a rat, present participle smelling a rat, simple past and past participle smelt a rat or smelled a rat)

  1. (idiomatic) To sense something suspicious.
    • Oh, Are you thereabouts, Sir; then I ſmell a Rat Ifaith; but I'll ſay nothing.1667 (revival performance), John Dryden, The Wild Gallant: A Comedy. […], In the Savoy [London]: […] T[homas] Newcomb for H[enry] Herringman, […], published 1669, →OCLC, Act IV, page 45
    • [O]ur conjectures were like arrows ſhot in the dark—they were wide of the mark—till an old gentleman came into the room, who after affixing his ſpectacles on the ſuperior part of an aquiline noſe, told us—"he ſmelt a rat!" / "He ſmelt a rat!" and ſhaking his head with all the ſolemnity of Attic...1776 February, “a Lady”, “A Sentimental Journey”, in The Lady's Magazine; or Entertaining Companion for the Fair Sex, Appropriated Solely to their Use and Enjoyment, London: Printed for G. Robinson...

smell a rat meaning in Kannada

smell a rat in Kannada

ಅನುಮಾನಿಸು, ಶಂಕಿಸು, ಸಂದೇಹಪಡು, ಅನುಮಾನಪಡು, ಶಂಕೆಪಡು

Forms of smell a rat

third-person singular presentsmells a rat
present participlesmelling a rat
past participlesmelt a rat
pastsmelt a rat
past participlesmelled a rat
pastsmelled a rat

Questions about smell a rat

What does smell a rat mean?
Smell a rat means to sense something suspicious.
What is smell a rat in Kannada?
Smell a rat in Kannada is ಅನುಮಾನಿಸು, ಶಂಕಿಸು, ಸಂದೇಹಪಡು. See Smell a rat meaning in Kannada.
What part of speech is smell a rat?
Smell a rat is a verb.
How do you pronounce smell a rat?
Smell a rat is pronounced /ˈsmɛl ə ˈɹæt/ (UK).
What is the past tense of smell a rat?
The past tense of smell a rat is smelt a rat.

Words near smell a rat in the dictionary

  1. smel
  2. Smelcer
  3. Smelcers
  4. smell
  5. smell a fox
  6. smell a rat
  7. smell blindness
  8. smell blood
  9. smell blood in the water
  10. smell fishy
  11. smell fox

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: smell a rat (page history and authors); smell a rat (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-smell a rat.ogg.

Cite this entry: “smell a rat.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smell_a_rat. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.