Is smelt a word for smell - Word и Excel - помощь в работе с программами

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Asked by: Cleta Bergstrom

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Smelled is the past tense of smell in both North American and British English. Smelt is also used as the past tense of smell in British English. Brits use smelled and smelt interchangeably, but speakers in North America rarely use smelt.

Whats the meaning of smelt?

1 : to melt or fuse (a substance, such as ore) often with an accompanying chemical change usually to separate the metal. 2 : refine, reduce. smelt.

Is smelt in the English dictionary?

1. Smelt is a past tense and past participle of smell. To smelt a substance containing metal means to process it by heating it until it melts, so that the metal is extracted and changed chemically.

Is smelt a Scrabble word?

Yes, smelts is in the scrabble dictionary.

What is the past participle for smell?

The past participle of smell is smelt or smelled.

40 related questions found

Is smelt proper English?

Is swum word?

Swim is an irregular verb; swam is the past tense of swim, while swum is the past participle. Swum is used after have, as in «I have swum in that pool before.»

Is smelt plural?

noun, plural (especially collectively) smelt, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) smelts. any of various small, silvery food fishes of the family Osmeridae, of cold northern waters, as the North American rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax.

Is it melt or smelt?

Melting is the process of liquefying a solid substance by heating. … Both processes involve heating a substance into a higher temperature. The main difference between melting and smelting is that melting converts a solid substance into a liquid whereas smelting converts an ore to its purest form.

Is Spelt a word?

It’s true; the American English past tense form is spelled. In other varieties of English, both spelled and spelt are common. … The past tense of the verb “spell” can be spelt in two ways.

Is smelt a adverb?

We do not currently know of any adverbs for smelt. Using available adjectives, one could potentially construct nonstandard adverbs such as smeltably, smeltingly or smeltedly. Note, however, that these words will not generally be contained within standard English language lexicons.

Is smelt a fish?

smelt, any of certain silvery, chiefly marine food fishes, family Osmeridae, closely related to salmon and trout and found in cold northern waters. Smelts, like trout, have a small, adipose (fleshy) fin. They are slender carnivores and spawn short distances upstream, in the surf or in ponds.

Are smelt and anchovies the same?

These small, silvery-green fish, also known as rainbow smelt, are similar in appearance to sardines and anchovies. Most adult fish are 7 to 9 inches long and weigh up to 6 ounces. Smelt are not only loaded with healthy nutrients, but also are low in mercury.

How hot is a smelter?

In a continuous process, fine particles of copper ore concentrates, usually pretreated in dry or granulated form, along with SiO₂ flux and O₂ (or air) are fed into a heated smelting furnace at 1200–1300 °C.

What is the difference between smelting and roasting?

Smelting is process of extracting metal by heating metal oxide with suitable reducing agent as carbon, hydrogen whereas roasting involves heating of ore either alone or in presence of oxidizing agent mostly oxygen.

What is the difference between smelting and refining?

In metallurgy, refining consists of purifying an impure metal. It is to be distinguished from other processes such as smelting and calcining in that those two involve a chemical change to the raw material, whereas in refining, the final material is usually identical chemically to the original one, only it is purer.

What part of speech is smelt?

smelt used as a noun:

a family of small anadromous fish common in the North American Great Lakes. Production of metal from ore; or, any of the various liquids or semi-molten solids produced and used during the course of such production.

What is meant by the Iron Age?

The Iron Age was a period in human history that started between 1200 B.C. and 600 B.C., depending on the region, and followed the Stone Age and Bronze Age. During the Iron Age, people across much of Europe, Asia and parts of Africa began making tools and weapons from iron and steel.

Is swang a word?

Swang is a term used for the past tense of swing. An example of swang is someone leaving the park after swinging on a swing set.

Had drunk or had drank?

In modern usage guides, drank is the past tense of drink, as in «I drank a lot last night,» and drunk is the past participle (following «have»), as in «Yes, I have drunk wine before.» Throughout history, however, these words have been confused and used in their opposite contexts, perhaps because of the association …

Is it dreamed or have Dreamt?

Dreamed and dreamt are both acceptable past tense forms of dream. Dreamed follows the pattern of regular verbs, ending with «-ed» while dreamt is irregular. Often the irregular, or «strong,» form of a word gives way and is replaced by the normalized form, but both dreamt and dreamed are still in use.

Is Learnt a real word?

Or is it learned? Learnt and learned are both used as the past participle and past tense of the verb to learn. Learned is the generally accepted spelling in the United States and Canada, while the rest of the English-speaking world seems to prefer learnt.

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Irregular verbs are tricky for the native and nonnative writer alike. Irregular verbs are verbs that don’t take on the typical past tense spelling pattern, and English has a lot of them.

Talk is an example of a regular verb. It changes from present tense to past tense by adding an “ed” to the end of the word.

I talk.
I talked.

Drive is an example of an irregular verb. It completely changes when it forms the past tense.

I drive.
I drove.

The verb smell actually has both a regular and irregular past tense form.

I smell. (Present)
I smelt. (Past)
I smelled. (Past)

Both of these forms are correct, but they’re not always interchangeable. Sound confusing? Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything you need to know about smelt vs. smelled below.

What is the Difference Between Smelled and Smelt?

The difference between smelled and smelt is largely the same difference between spelled and spelt.

In this post, I will outline the different used of smelled vs. smelt and when it is correct to use each spelling. Plus, at the end, I will give you a helpful trick for remembering each word’s different uses.

When to Use Smelled

When should I use smelled? Smelled is the preferred past tense spelling of to smell in American English.

The cause of the fire is under investigation. Arson is suspected because investigators said they smelled an accelerant at the scene. –The New York Times
Residents had begun reporting that their water smelled of petroleum, signaling possible contamination in part of the city’s drinking water supply. –The Washington Post

Smelled is much more common in American and Canadian English, so much so that smelt is generally considered a misspelling.

This preference has been clear for some time in North American English, as the below chart shows.

If you are a writer anywhere in North America, smelled is the correct spelling, as smelt is now exclusively a British English spelling.

When to Use Smelt

When should I use smelt? Smelt is a common past tense spelling of the verb to smell in British English.

The officers pulled over the vehicle, which was being driven by Stewart who smelt of liquor and was unsteady on his feet. –The Belfast Telegraph
Coming from Milton Keynes, where there weren’t a great deal of old things, to walk in somewhere that smelt of coffee and vinyl was odd; I was used to shiny new things, with bright lights and cold surfaces. –The Guardian

But, unlike in American English, smelt and smelled occur with roughly the same frequency in British English.

While the above chart is not exhaustive in measuring all uses of smelled vs. smelt (it only covers books), it illustrates that in British English the distance between the two words is much closer than in American English.

In Britain, both forms equally acceptable.

Other Meanings of Smelt

The word smelt does have a few other meanings, both as a noun and verb, that add to the confusion of smelled or smelt.

Smelt as a noun. As a noun, a smelt is a type of fish. A smelt is any of the various small silvery marine, freshwater, and anadromous food dishes of the family Osmeridae, usually found in the Northern Hemisphere.

These fish are common in the Great Lakes and lakes and seas of Northern Europe.

Smelt as a verb. As a verb, to smelt is to extract (metal) from its ore by a process of heating or melting.

They don’t smelt aluminum at Davenport, but transforming recycled or new aluminum into a finished product still requires a lot of heat. –Popular Mechanics

The past tense of to smelt is smelted.

I smelt.
I smelted.

Trick to Remember the Difference

It’s easy to see why there might be confusion on when to use smelled or smelt. Here’s a trick to help you remember when to use each word.

Smelt, as in he smelt the flowers, is commonly used in British English. Smelt and British both have a letter “T” in them.

Summary

Should I use smelt or smelled? The largely depends on who your audience is.

Smelled is the correct spelling in American English.

Smelt and Smelled are both acceptable spellings in British English.

Contents

1 What is the Difference Between Smelled and Smelt?
2 When to Use Smelled
3 When to Use Smelt
4 Other Meanings of Smelt
5 Trick to Remember the Difference
6 Summary

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Which is correct smelt or smelled?

Smelled is the past tense of smell in both North American and British English. Smelt is also used as the past tense of smell in British English. Smelt also has meanings unrelated to smelling. …

What are the tenses of smell?

Smell verb forms

Infinitive	Present Participle	Past Tense
smell	smelling	smelled or smelt

What’s another word for smell?

Synonyms & Antonyms of smell

nose,
scent,
sniff,
snuff,
whiff.

What’s the meaning of sniff?

transitive verb. 1a : to get the odor or scent of (something) with the nose : smell sniffed the freshly baked cookies dogs sniffing the ground. b : to inhale (something) through the nose : snort sniffing cocaine. 2 : to utter contemptuously.

What is a good smell called?

fragrance

How do you describe someone who smells good?

Words That Describe Pleasant Smells

ambrosial – sweet smelling, fragrant, aromatic.
aromatic – perfumed, fragrant, scented, sweet smelling, pungent, usually pleasing.
bouquet – the particular smell of a wine or flower.
delicious – a pleasant smell.

What scent is most attractive to guys?

Men are most attracted to floral scents while women find ‘woody’ aromas appealing – but you should avoid coconut if you’re trying to bag a date. Women looking for love should wear floral fragrances to attract a man, while preferring a ‘woody’ scent on potential lovers, according to a new study.

Is it weird to tell someone they smell good?

If you’re dating, complimenting someone’s scent is completely normal. Heck, even if you’re NOT dating, it’s normal. Like saying you like their face, eyes, hair or anything else about their physical body. Now you can do almost anything in a creepy way.

How do you say something smells good?

fragrant

ambrosial.
aromal.
aromatic.
balmy.
delectable.
delicious.
delightful.
odoriferous.

What’s another word for amazing?

In this page you can discover 61 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for amazing, like: astonishing, incredible, astounding, phenomenal, marvelous, wondrous, fantastical, prodigious, miraculous, stupendous and fantastic.

How do you say very good?

Choose — and use — one of these 99+ ways to say “Very Good” to your students.

You’re on the right track now!
You’ve got it made.
Super!
That’s right!
That’s good.
You’re really working hard today.
You are very good at that.
That’s coming along nicely.

How do you say something was good?

10 expressions to Use In Speaking And Writing:

It’s great.
It’s fantastic.
It’s excellent.
It’s better than average.
It’s not bad.
I’d recommend it.
I’m very impressed.
It’s better than I expected.

Is very good the same as excellent?

Surprisingly excellent; very good or admirable, extremely impressive.

How do you say all good in different ways?

What is another word for all good?

it’s all good	don’t worry about it
it’s fine	no biggie
no prob	no problem
no probs	no worries
not at all	it’s all right

What’s a big word for excellent?

What is another word for excellent?

exceptional	brilliant
exquisite	fine
magnificent	outstanding
distinguished	exemplary
extraordinary	incredible

What is a word for excellent?

SYNONYMS FOR excellent 1 worthy, estimable, choice, fine, first-rate, prime, admirable.

How do you describe excellent?

Excellence means greatness — the very best. Achieving excellence is never easy to do. Excellence is the quality of excelling, of being truly the best at something. Getting an A+ shows excellence.

What is another word for exceptional?

What is another word for exceptional?

extraordinary	rare
anomalous	peculiar
strange	unprecedented
aberrant	unique
inconsistent	deviant

What is the verb form of excellent?

Word family (noun) excellence Excellency (adjective) excellent (verb) excel (adverb) excellently.

What is the verb form of value?

verb. valued; valuing. Definition of value (Entry 2 of 3) transitive verb. 1 : to consider or rate highly : prize, esteem values your opinion.

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I was eating food & smelled it. So I said below sentence to my friend. :confused:

I smell(verb) a smell(noun). :idea:

Just wanna know this is correct ?

Thanks……

It would be correct but it sounds awkward — It would be better to say I smell something strange / ….

Packard

As Kittigger said, correct but awkward sounding.

More often you might hear «I smell a strange odor.» or «I think I smell gas (or other defined odor).

brian

The problem is that it’s the exact same word, so it sounds awkward because it adds no new information. In other words, you can simply say I smell something instead of I smell a smell because ANYTHING you smell must be «a smell.» There’s no reason for the redundancy.

That being said, we do say to hear a sound (and to hear something), but at least hear and sound are two different words, so it doesn’t sound quite as redundant.

thanks……

But I wanna say

I smell the smell of this food..

Hi grammer [sic],

thanks……

But I wanna say

I smell the smell of this food..

I think there is no reason not to say simply «I smell this food.» If you want to add some ornamentation to the sentence, you could say «I smell the aroma of this food.»

Examples with a specific food: «I smell French onion soup!» (perfectly natural). «I smell the aroma of French onion soup!» (grammatically accurate, more poetic and wordy than the first sentence).

Last edited: Mar 26, 2009

But I wanna say

I smell the smell of this food..

Normally, we’d just say that we can smell the food or that the food smells good.

I think it is obvious that you smell (verb) a smell (noun).

you cannot «hear» a smell or «see» a smell. Nor can you «hear» a smell or «touch» a smell.

For this reason, I would suggest you say something like «I can smell the food».

Of course, it would be more usual to say «I like the smell of the food». or «This food smells nice/good/lovely….»

If the food is being cooked you could say «I can smell something being cooked)

Generally speaking, if it weren’t relating to food, it would be more common to say «I can smell something.»

I hope this helps

brian

Robert, you also cannot smell, see, taste, or feel a sound (only hear it), yet we still say to hear a sound: I can hear the sound of waves crashing onto the shore is as natural and idiomatic as I can hear waves crashing onto the shore, which in fact sounds a bit less poetic/descriptive.

Yet it sounds weird to say I can smell the smell of the salty ocean.

So I think it has less to do with the redundancy of repeating the same sense, and more to do with repeating the same word.

Nunty

I disagree a tiny bit, Brian, because there is a difference in meaning between «I hear a sound» and «I hear a noise». There is only one sort of thing we can smell, though.

I disagree a tiny bit, Brian, because there is a difference in meaning between «I hear a sound» and «I hear a noise». There is only one sort of thing we can smell, though.

I don’t know about that; smells, aromas, scents, and odors are all a bit different in the way that sounds and noises are.

Packard

Robert, you also cannot smell, see, taste, or feel a sound (only hear it), yet we still say to hear a sound: I can hear the sound of waves crashing onto the shore is as natural and idiomatic as I can hear waves crashing onto the shore, which in fact sounds a bit less poetic/descriptive.

Yet it sounds weird to say I can smell the smell of the salty ocean.

So I think it has less to do with the redundancy of repeating the same sense, and more to do with repeating the same word.

We are all victims of our grade school teachers who told us not to use the same word in a sentence.

I routinely ignore that admonition if the word is the single most appropriate word for that meaning. (As in «word» in the previous sentence).

But in this case, I am not certain that the noun «smell» is the single best word to use in this sentence. I would, having available to me a full-time noun such as «odor», «fragrance», «aroma», etc., chosen one of them in place of the part-time noun «smell». This is a strictly stylistic decision.

I might change that thought if I were writing:

I Smelled a smell while I fell pell mell in Hell wishing I could douse the flames with water from a well.

(But admittedly opportunities like this rarely arise.)

Nunty

I don’t know about that; smells, aromas, scents, and odors are all a bit different in the way that sounds and noises are.

OK, but do you say «I smell an aroma, a scent, an odor»? I wouldn’t.

brian

Nunty said:

I disagree a tiny bit, Brian, because there is a difference in meaning between «I hear a sound» and «I hear a noise». There is only one sort of thing we can smell, though.

Not true!—we can smell lots of things.

The idea is that sound and noise have two slightly different meanings, depending on context. For example, sound (of birds) is rather neutral (perhaps positive) whereas noise is rather negative. You like to hear sounds; you don’t like to hear noises, more or less.

Same with smelling. Stench or odor is rather negative, so it’s okay to say I smell the stench of rotten eggs because the word stench adds extra meaning to the sentence, just like noise and sound do—negative and neutral, respectively.

The problem, however, is twofold: 1) there is only one real neutral word for smell (like sound), and that is smell, and 2) it just so happens to be the exact same word as the verb, to smell.

So if you want to say something neutral like I hear a sound but with regard to smell, then you consider I smell a smell. But we don’t say that.

So all this boils down (for me) to the fact that we don’t say it because it’s the exact same word.

That’s my logic, at least.

Packard

OK, but do you say «I smell an aroma, a scent, an odor»? I wouldn’t.

I agree. If you have ever smelled cyanide, which has a sickly sweet, but not quite pleasant odor you might have a difficult time categorizing it and you might write:

It was a smell that I smelled, quite unlike any other; it was not an aroma to be savored; or a fragrance to drink in; or even an odor that repels; instead it was both a beckoning and repelling smell—offensive and inviting at the same time.

Nunty

OK, I bow to the superior logic of the other side.

OK, but do you say «I smell an aroma, a scent, an odor»? I wouldn’t.

I wouldn’t either. I’m just disagreeing with your reasoning about why «I hear a noise» is ok but «I smell a smell» isn’t. I don’t think there is a logical reason; I think it’s just convention.

Robert, you also cannot smell, see, taste, or feel a sound (only hear it), yet we still say to hear a sound: I can hear the sound of waves crashing onto the shore is as natural and idiomatic as I can hear waves crashing onto the shore, which in fact sounds a bit less poetic/descriptive.

Yet it sounds weird to say I can smell the smell of the salty ocean.

So I think it has less to do with the redundancy of repeating the same sense, and more to do with repeating the same word.

I agree with Nun-translator above. Whilst «smell a smell» sounds clumsy due to the repetition, it is also redundant since we can’t «do» anything else to a smell.

As for «hear a sound», in my opinion, you hit the nail on the head when you admit the «hear a sound» version is more poetic.
After all, if someone told you that they could «hear waves crashing onto the shore» you would mostly probably assume it was the sound of the waves that they could hear. Poetic, yet not needed to communicate the basic idea of wave noise and detecting it with a sensory organ.

I agree, however, that the «smell» version is less agreeable to the ear, since there is obvious repetition.

I want to point out that «hear a noise» and «hear the noise of ___» are two different patterns. While I (usually) wouldn’t say «I smell an aroma», I absolutely would say «I smell the aroma/scent/odor/stench of ___.»

I want to point out that «hear a noise» and «hear the noise of ___» are two different patterns. While I (usually) wouldn’t say «I smell an aroma», I absolutely would say «I smell the aroma/scent/odor/stench of ___.»

But would you really?

I would generally just

say

«I can smell [insert here thing I can smell]» unless I was being exceptionally poetic or writing a book.

«I can smell the stench of sewerage, are the drains blocked?» = «I can smell sewerage, are the drains blocked?»

«I can smell the aroma/scent of those flowers. Don’t they smell lovely?» would most likely be rendered as «Those flowers smell nice.»

As for being descriptive/poetic (hardly!)

«The stench of sewerage lingered in the air like an eagle watching over us….»

But would you really?

I would generally just

say

«I can smell [insert here thing I can smell]» unless I was being exceptionally poetic or writing a book.

No, but I also wouldn’t say «I hear the sound of the waves» unless I were being poetic or writing a book. The same goes for «I feel the sensation of ___» and «I taste the flavor of ___». Those all sound like narration to me, and I would be pretty unlikely to use any of them in a normal conversation.

I would say any of them aloud, but it would have to be in the right context (probably narration). «We could smell the stench of death even before we got into the room,» or something like that.

Those all sound like narration to me, and I would be pretty unlikely to use any of them in a normal conversation.

:tick:

That’s exactly what I am suggesting too.

I would say any of them aloud, but it would have to be in the right context (probably narration). «We could smell the stench of death even before we got into the room,» or something like that.

I wasn’t suggesting these constructions be confined to written language and never spoken aloud, only that in day to day, ordinary speech, such repetitive constructions (if you’ll allow me to refer to them as such) are uncommon.

I was eating food & smelled it.

So I said below sentence to my friend.

I would suggest that few people narrate to friends or family on a regular basis, especially not when performing the action there and then

Eg. I am eating this most delicious food, the odour of which is just divine. X

Most likely: This food smells lovely

The original poster was talking to a friend and he/she wasn’t telling a story of a time he/she had once smelled a smell.

Last edited: Mar 26, 2009

…
1) there is only one real neutral word for smell (like sound), and that is smell,
…

I agree with Nun-translator above. Whilst «smell a smell» sounds clumsy due to the repetition, it is also redundant since we can’t «do» anything else to a smell.
…

Curious comments, I think.

I don’t know if this is a localised understanding of the topic sentence, but it is familiar in my part of the world. The meaning relies on the fact that smell, noun, is not always neutral.
Once that is clear, it is also clear that «I smell a smell» is not redundant.

The bit of information essential to understanding the sentence is that in this context «a smell» is understood to mean «an unpleasant smell».

in this context «a smell» is understood to mean «an unpleasant smell».

Yes, to me the noun smell, unlike the verb smell, tends to connote a bad smell.

brian

Doesn’t it depend on context? To me, both the verb and noun can be positive or negative depending on what the smell is.

1) you’re walking down the street with a friend and smell a street vendor grilling meat but you don’t see him, so you say to your friend, Mmm.. smell that? / what’s that smell? Positive.

2) you’re walking down the street and pass an area where a pub crawl just came from (not good)—it’s the smell of alcohol and vomit—you say to your friend, Ugh.. smell that? / what’s that smell? Negative.

And in either case, I still would not say, Do you smell that smell?

The only example that comes to mind is the Lynyrd Skynyrd song, «That Smell.»

Oooh that smell, can’t you smell that smell, the smell of death surrounds you…

Last edited: Mar 29, 2009

…
And in either case, I still would not say, Do you smell that smell?
…

I probably wouldn’t either.
But that does not relate to my view that «I smell a smell» is used to refer to an unpleasant smell.
It is the direct equivalent of «I smell something nasty.»

That doesn’t mean that smell (noun) always has this meaning, as I explained earlier.

I see nothing wrong with the sentence «I smell a smell.» It is too short a sentence to be awkward and is in fact quite balanced, but it does sound redundant. It may not necessarily be redundant.

I am not sure I have used this particular sentence, but I may have. I am likely to have said something more like Packard’s sentence about cyanide.

It may of course be used as «word humor», like «I spy with my little eye …», or for dramatic effect:

We are doomed. That smell we smell is not just an active volcano but the fires of hell coming to claim us.

Curious comments, I think.
Once that is clear, it is also clear that «I smell a smell» is not redundant.

But surely, given the context given by the original poster, when refering to food it would be unusual to simply say «I smell a smell».

I can not think of any situation in which I would actually say «I smell a smell».

for dramatic effect:

We are doomed. That smell we smell is not just an active volcano but the fires of hell coming to claim us.

I’m not so sure that such a sentence would be uttered in daily life. Indeed, these variations for dramatic/poetic effect are not wrong but are not usual.

If I were sat a a table and I could smell food I would not say «I smell a smell». Since this is the context given in the original post, I believe should imagine this situation.

But surely, given the context given by the original poster, when refering to food it would be unusual to simply say «I smell a smell».

I can not think of any situation in which I would actually say «I smell a smell».

I’m not so sure that such a sentence would be uttered in daily life. Indeed, these variations for dramatic/poetic effect are not wrong but are not usual.

If I were sat a a table and I could smell food I would not say «I smell a smell». Since this is the context given in the original post, I believe should imagine this situation.

I probably wouldn’t either.
But that does not relate to my view that «I smell a smell» is used to refer to an unpleasant smell.
It is the direct equivalent of «I smell something nasty.»

That doesn’t mean that smell (noun) always has this meaning, as I explained earlier.

I would say «I smell something nasty» if I could smell something nasty.

I would say «I can smell something» if I was not sure what I could smell, or didn’t know if it was pleasent or unpleasent.

«I smell a smell» makes me think of some sort of parody of the song with the line «I dreamed a dream». (Which, if I can keep this comparison on-topic, I also would not say. I would suggest that most people would say something like «I had a dream (last night).» This comparison is not intended to provoke off-topic discussion about this)

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Inflections of ‘smelt‘ (n):

smelt: npl (Especially as a collective plural—e.g. «Smelt are coldwater fish.»)

smelts: npl (Mainly used for talking about different types—e.g. «Smelts are a family of small fish.»)

From the verb smell: (⇒ conjugate)
smelt is: ⓘClick the infinitive to see all available inflections: v past (Mainly UK); v past p (Mainly UK)

smelt¹ /smɛlt/USA pronunciation
v. [~ + object]

Metallurgyto fuse or melt (ore) in order to separate the metal in it.
Metallurgyto obtain or refine (metal) in this way.

smelt² /smɛlt/USA pronunciation
n. [countable], pl. (esp. when thought of as a group) smelt, (esp. for kinds or species) smelts.

Fisha small, silvery food fish of cold northern waters.

smelt³ /smɛlt/USA pronunciation
v.

a pt. and pp. of smell.

smelt¹
(smelt),USA pronunciation v.t.

Metallurgyto fuse or melt (ore) in order to separate the metal contained.
Metallurgyto obtain or refine (metal) in this way.

Middle Dutch or Middle Low German smelten; cognate with German schmelzen to melt¹, smelt
probably 1535–45

smelt²
(smelt),USA pronunciation n., pl. (esp. collectively) smelt, (esp. referring to two or more kinds or species) smelts.

Fishany of various small, silvery food fishes of the family Osmeridae, of cold northern waters, as the North American rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax.
Fishany of several superficially similar but unrelated fishes, esp. certain silversides, of California.

bef. 900; Middle English, Old English; compare Norwegian smelta whiting

smelt³
(smelt),USA pronunciation v.

a pt. and pp. of smell.

smelt /smɛlt/ vb

(transitive) to extract (a metal) from (an ore) by heating

Etymology: 15th Century: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch smelten; related to Old High German smelzan to melt

smelt /smɛlt/ n ( pl smelt, smelts)

any marine or freshwater salmonoid food fish of the family Osmeridae, such as Osmerus eperlanus of Europe, having a long silvery body and occurring in temperate and cold northern waters

Etymology: Old English smylt; related to Dutch, Danish smelt, Norwegian smelta, German Schmelz

smelt /smɛlt/ vb

a past tense and past participle of smell

smell /smɛl/USA pronunciation
v., smelled or smelt/smɛlt/USA pronunciation smell•ing, n.
v.

to detect the odor of (something) through the nose;
inhale the odor of something: [~ + object]He smelled the flowers in the garden.[not: be + ~-ing* no object]Because he had a bad head cold he could hardly smell.
[not: be + ~-ing] to give off or have an odor:These flowers don’t smell at all.
to have a certain odor or scent: [~ + of/like + object][not: be + ~-ing]The whole house smelled of smoke.[~ + adjective]The room smelled bad.
Physiology to give out a strong or offensive odor;
stink:[not: be + ~-ing* no object]Whew, that fish really smells!
to test by the sense of smell:[~ + object]He smelled the meat to see if it was fresh.
to detect by cleverness:[not: be + ~-ing* ~ + object]The detective smelled foul play.
to have a trace or suggestion:[not: be + ~-ing* ~ + of + object]This smells of foul play.
Informal Termsto be of inferior quality;
stink:[not: be + ~-ing* no object]Your team really smells!
smell out, [~ + object] to look for by or as if by smelling:The newspaper reporter could smell out a story from just a hint of trouble.
smell up, to fill with an offensive odor;
stink up: [~ + up + object]Her perfume was smelling up the whole room.[~ + object + up]to smell it up.

Physiology the sense of being able to detect something with the nose:[uncountable]the sense of smell.
that quality of a thing that is or may be smelled:[countable]The fish has a pretty strong smell.
an act or instance of smelling:[countable]Give this a smell and tell me if it’s still fresh.
a trace or suggestion:[countable]a smell of danger.
an appearance, character, or quality that seems to be all around a thing:[countable]the sweet smell of success.

Idioms

Idioms smell a rat, to suspect that something is wrong:He smelled a rat when he saw her sneaking through the back door.

smell
(smel),USA pronunciation v., smelled or smelt, smell•ing, n.
v.t.

to perceive the odor or scent of through the nose by means of the olfactory nerves;
inhale the odor of:I smell something burning.
to test by the sense of smell:She smelled the meat to see if it was fresh.
to perceive, detect, or discover by shrewdness or sagacity:The detective smelled foul play.

v.i.

Physiologyto perceive something by its odor or scent.
to search or investigate (fol. by around or about).
to give off or have an odor or scent:Do the yellow roses smell?
Physiologyto give out an offensive odor;
stink.
to have a particular odor (fol. by of ):My hands smell of fish.
to have a trace or suggestion (fol. by of ).
Informal Termsto be of inferior quality;
stink:The play is good, but the direction smells.
Informal Termsto have the appearance or a suggestion of guilt or corruption:They may be honest, but the whole situation smells.
smell a rat. See rat (def. 6).
smell out, to look for or detect as if by smelling;
search out:to smell out enemy spies.
smell up, to fill with an offensive odor;
stink up:The garbage smelled up the yard.

Physiologythe sense of smell;
faculty of smelling.
the quality of a thing that is or may be smelled;
odor;
scent.
a trace or suggestion.
an act or instance of smelling.
a pervading appearance, character, quality, or influence:the smell of money.

?
early Middle English smell, smull (noun, nominal), smellen, smullen (verb, verbal) 1125–75

smell′a•ble, adj.
smell′-less, adj.

16.See corresponding entry in Unabridged See odor.

smell /smɛl/ vb (smells, smelling, smelt, smelled)

(transitive) to perceive the scent or odour of (a substance) by means of the olfactory nerves
(copula) to have a specified smell; appear to the sense of smell to be: the beaches smell of seaweed, some tobacco smells very sweet
(intransitive) often followed by of: to emit an odour (of): the park smells of flowers
(intransitive) to emit an unpleasant odour; stink
(transitive) often followed by out: to detect through shrewdness or instinct
(intransitive) to have or use the sense of smell; sniff
(intransitive) followed by of: to give indications (of): he smells of money
(intr; followed by around, about, etc) to search, investigate, or pry
(copula) to be or seem to be untrustworthy or corrupt

that sense (olfaction) by which scents or odours are perceived
Related adjective(s): olfactory
anything detected by the sense of smell; odour; scent
a trace or indication
the act or an instance of smelling

Etymology: 12th Century: of uncertain origin; compare Middle Dutch smölen to scorch

ˈsmeller n

‘smelt‘ also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):