smelling
/ˈsmɛlɪŋ/
smelling verb: used in adjectival compounds. Also the present participle and gerund of smell.
Verb
smelling
- Used in adjectival compounds.
- foul-smelling (having a foul smell)
- sweet-smelling (having a sweet smell)
Noun
smelling (plural smellings)
- The act by which something is smelled.
- To such perceivings we give names like these: seeings, hearings, smellings, chillings and burnings, pleasures and pains, desires […]2004, Timothy D. J. Chappell, Reading Plato's Theaetetus, page 73
Also used as
smelling is also the present participle and gerund of smell.
Forms of smelling
| plural | smellings |
|---|
Words formed from smelling
Phrases with smelling
- smelling up
- smelling aid
- smelling out
- smelling salt
- smelling a rat
- smelling blood
- sweet smelling
- smelling bottle
- smelling bottles
- sweeter smelling
- smelling the barn
- sweetest smelling
18 more phrasesFewer phrases
- smelling the coffee
- smelling like a rose
- smelling of the lamp
- smelling of the shop
- come up smelling of roses
- come out smelling of roses
- come up smelling like a rose
- come out smelling like a rose
- smelling like a tart's bedroom
- smelling like a tart's boudoir
- smelling like a tart's handbag
- stopping and smelling the roses
- waking up and smelling the ashes
- waking up and smelling the roses
- stopping and smelling the flowers
- waking up and smelling the coffee
- smelling like a tart's handkerchief
- smelling what someone is stepping in
Words that rhyme with smelling
- shelling
- spelling
- telling
- compelling
- swelling
- belling
- selling
- cabbeling
- dwelling
- felling
- gelling
- paralleling
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about smelling
- What does smelling mean?
- Smelling means used in adjectival compounds.
- What part of speech is smelling?
- Smelling can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce smelling?
- Smelling is pronounced /ˈsmɛlɪŋ/.
Words near smelling in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: smelling (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-smelling.wav.
Cite this entry: “smelling.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/smelling. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.