ODOUR

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does odour mean? 

• ODOUR (noun)
  The noun ODOUR has 2 senses:

1. the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form

2. any property detected by the olfactory system

  Familiarity information: ODOUR used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ODOUR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

odor; odour; olfactory perception; olfactory sensation; smell

Context example:

she loved the smell of roses

Hypernyms ("odour" is a kind of...):

aesthesis; esthesis; sensation; sense datum; sense experience; sense impression (an unelaborated elementary awareness of stimulation)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "odour"):

scent (an odor left in passing by which a person or animal can be traced)

aroma; fragrance; perfume; scent (a distinctive odor that is pleasant)

fetor; foetor; malodor; malodour; mephitis; reek; stench; stink (a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant)

acridity (having an acrid smell)

Derivation:

odourise (cause to smell or be smelly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any property detected by the olfactory system

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

aroma; odor; odour; olfactory property; scent; smell

Hypernyms ("odour" is a kind of...):

property (a basic or essential attribute shared by all members of a class)

Attribute:

odorous (having odor or a characteristic odor)

inodorous; odorless; odourless (having no odor)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "odour"):

bouquet; fragrance; fragrancy; redolence; sweetness (a pleasingly sweet olfactory property)

fetidness; foulness; malodorousness; rankness; stinkiness (the attribute of having a strong offensive smell)

muskiness (having the olfactory properties of musk)

rancidness (the property of being rancid)

Derivation:

odourise (cause to smell or be smelly)

 Context examples 

There was a sizzle and odour of burning flesh, and a sharp cry of pain.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

But as to the odour itself, how shall I describe it?

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

They all appear to be adhesive, and there is a distinct odour of lime-cream.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was a fine, clear, January day, wet under foot where the frost had melted, but cloudless overhead; and the Regent’s Park was full of winter chirrupings and sweet with spring odours.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

The system, tested on an industrial scale, avoids the foul odours that are generated during the composting process.

(Scientists validate a new technology that transforms sewage sludge into fertilizer more efficiently, University of Granada)

The refectory was a great, low-ceiled, gloomy room; on two long tables smoked basins of something hot, which, however, to my dismay, sent forth an odour far from inviting.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I never saw a man so thoroughly enjoy himself amid the fragrance of lemon-peel and sugar, the odour of burning rum, and the steam of boiling water, as Mr. Micawber did that afternoon.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I had hardly settled in my chair before I was conscious of a thick, musky odour, subtle and nauseous.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Chamomile has a warm aromatic odour and a very bitter taste and contains volatile oils which are a mixture of butyl and amyl angelates and valerates.

(Chamomile, NCI Thesaurus)

His employment, from his first coming into the academy, was an operation to reduce human excrement to its original food, by separating the several parts, removing the tincture which it receives from the gall, making the odour exhale, and scumming off the saliva.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)