stink

stink

I

stink¹ /stɪŋk/ verb (past tense stank /stæŋk/, past participle stunk /stʌŋk/) [intransitive]1. to have a strong and very unpleasant smell:
    It stinks in here!
    stink of
    His breath stank of alcohol.
    The toilets stank to high heaven (=stank very much).
2. spoken used to say that something is bad, unfair, dishonest etc:
    Don’t eat there – the food stinks!
    The whole justice system stinks.
stink something ↔ out British English, stink something ↔ up American English phrasal verb
  to fill a place with a very unpleasant smell:
    Those onions are stinking the whole house out.

II

stink² noun [countable usually singular]
1. a very bad smell
   SYN  stench
    stink of
    the stink of burning rubber
2. cause/kick up/make etc a stink to complain very strongly:
    Activists have raised a stink about the shipments of nuclear waste.
3. work/run/go like stink British English old-fashioned to work etc as fast and as well as you can:
    We had to work like stink to meet the deadline.
     

THESAURUS

   ▪ smell something that you can recognize by breathing in through your nose: the smell from the kitchen | What’s that awful smell? | the sweet smell of roses
   ▪ whiff something that you smell for a short time: He caught a whiff of her perfume. | a whiff of apple blossom
   ▪ scent a smell – used especially about the pleasant smell from flowers, plants, or fruit. Also used about the smell left by an animal: The rose had a beautiful scent. | Cats use their scent to mark their territory. | the sharp, dying scent of autumn | the heady scent (=strong scent)of magnolias
   ▪ fragrance/perfume a pleasant smell, especially from flowers, plants, or fruit. Fragrance and perfume are more formal than scent: the sweet perfume of the orange blossoms | Each mango has its own special fragrance.
   ▪ aroma formal a pleasant smell from food or coffee: the aroma of fresh coffee | The kitchen was filled with the aroma of mince pies.
   ▪ odour British English, odor American English formal an unpleasant smell: An unpleasant odour was coming from the dustbins. | the odor of stale tobacco smoke
   ▪ pong British English informal an unpleasant smell: What’s that horrible pong?
   ▪ stink/stench a very strong and unpleasant smell: I couldn’t get rid of the stink of sweat. | The toilet gave off a terrible stench.