Word.ws English Dictionary

smelled the barn

smelled the barn is the simple past and past participle of smell the barn.

Meaning of smell the barn

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.

Questions about smelled the barn

What is smelled the barn the simple past and past participle of?
Smelled the barn is the simple past and past participle of smell the barn.

Words near smelled the barn in the dictionary

  1. smelled like a tart's handbag
  2. smelled like a tart's handkerchief
  3. smelled of the lamp
  4. smelled of the shop
  5. smelled out
  6. smelled the barn
  7. smelled the coffee
  8. smelled up
  9. smelled what someone was stepping in
  10. smeller
  11. smeller out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: smelled the barn (page history and authors); 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.

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