Dictionary

smell-o-meter en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-West Germanic *smalljan Old English *smiellan Middle English smellen English smell English -o-meter English smell-o-meter From smell + -o-meter.

Meanings

1. (informal) That which registers the magnitude of odor.
   • In other words, the wolf scent that is old, though it registers on the deer’s “smell-o-meter,” causes a far different behavioral reaction than one that is fresh. 2003 November, Shawn Perich, Michael Furtman, Whitetail Hunting: Top-Notch Strategies for Hunting North America's Most Popular Big-Game Animal, Creative Publishing international, page 13:
   • Perhaps the American Library Association should commission high tech wizards to develop a "smell-o-meter" which could standardize our judgments. 1993 May, Anne M. Turner, It Comes with the Territory: Handling Problem Situations in Libraries, McFarland & Company, page 10:
   • 1997 May 7, William Greene, misc.fitness.weights, Usenet Somebody needs to invent a "smell-o-meter" for gyms

Forms