Word.ws English Dictionary

smell the barn

UK/ˌsmɛl ðə ˈbaːn/US/ˌsmɛl ðə ˈbaɹn/

smell the barn verb: to act with renewed energy or speed or to experience heightened anticipation as one approaches a destination, goal, or other desired outcome.

Verb

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

  1. (US, idiomatic, intransitive) To act with renewed energy or speed or to experience heightened anticipation as one approaches a destination, goal, or other desired outcome.
    • We’ll get home right quick—old Dobbin knows the way better than you and I do, and he can smell the barn besides.
    • Anyhow, Congress, like the old horse that starts into a long deferred trot when she "smells the barn," began to show action and as hearts on Capitol Hill leaned homeward, thoughts in the White House turned to the open road—or at least the railroad.1935 August 12, H[ilmar] R[obert] Baukhage, “In the Executive Offices”, in David Lawrence, editor, The United States News: The Weekly Newsmagazine of National Affairs, volume 3, number 32...

Forms of smell the barn

third-person singular presentsmells the barn
present participlesmelling the barn
past participlesmelled the barn
pastsmelled the barn
past participlesmelt the barn
pastsmelt the barn

Origin of smell the barn

A reference to a livestock animal returning to its barn at the end of the day, especially a horse drawing a carriage which is on the way back home.

Words that rhyme with smell the barn

Questions about smell the barn

What does smell the barn mean?
Smell the barn means to act with renewed energy or speed or to experience heightened anticipation as one approaches a destination, goal, or other desired outcome.
What part of speech is smell the barn?
Smell the barn is a verb.
How do you pronounce smell the barn?
Smell the barn is pronounced /ˌsmɛl ðə ˈbaːn/ (UK).
What is the past tense of smell the barn?
The past tense of smell the barn is smelled the barn.

Words near smell the barn in the dictionary

  1. smell one's own farts
  2. smell oneself
  3. smell out
  4. smell test
  5. smell tests
  6. smell the barn
  7. smell the coffee
  8. smell the roses
  9. smell trap
  10. smell traps
  11. smell up

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: smell the barn (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 the barn.ogg.

Cite this entry: “smell the barn.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smell_the_barn. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.