smell sth/sb out
mainly UK US usually sniff sth/sb out— phrasal verb with smell uk/smel/us/smel/verb smelled or UK also smelt, smelled or UK smelt
to discover where something or someone is by smelling:
At customs, dogs are used to smell out drugs in passengers' luggage.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Smells & smelling
- acrid
- aroma
- beery
- bouquet
- cheesy
- foetid
- fragrance
- frowsty
- odour
- pungent
- putrid
- scratch-and-sniff
- smell somewhere out
- smelly
- sniff sth/sb out
- sour
- stagnant
- stinky
- whiffy
- woody
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Finding and discovering