What does "scent" mean?
Scent: To imbue or fill with odor; to perfume. Balm from a silver box distilled around, Shall all bedew the roots, and scent the sacred ground. Dryden.
Additional senses
- 2.To have a smell. [Obs.] Thunderbolts . . . do scent strongly of brimstone. Holland.
- 3.To hunt animals by means of the sense of smell.
- 4.That which, issuing from a body, affects the olfactory organs of animals; odor; smell; as, the scent of an orange, or of a rose; the scent of musk. With lavish hand diffuses scents ambrosial. prior.
- 5.Specifically, the odor left by an animal on the ground in passing over it; as, dogs find or lose the scent; hence, course of pursuit; track of discovery. He gained the observations of innumerable ages, and traveled upon the same scent into Ethiopia. Sir W. Temple.
- 6.The power of smelling; the sense of smell; as, a hound of nice scent; to divert the scent. I. Watts.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00