Word.ws English Dictionary

smelt a rat

smelt a rat is the simple past and past participle of smell a rat.

Meaning of smell a rat

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

Forms of smelt a rat

alternative formsmelled a rat

Questions about smelt a rat

What is smelt a rat the simple past and past participle of?
Smelt a rat is the simple past and past participle of smell a rat.

Words near smelt a rat in the dictionary

  1. smelly freckles
  2. smels
  3. Smelser
  4. Smelsers
  5. smelt
  6. smelt a rat
  7. smelt blood
  8. smelt like a rose
  9. smelt like a tart's bedroom
  10. smelt like a tart's boudoir
  11. smelt like a tart's handbag

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: smelt a rat (page history and authors); smell a rat (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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