The difference between Detect and Smell
When used as verbs, detect means to discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing, whereas smell means to sense a smell or smells.
Detect is also adjective with the meaning: detected.
Smell is also noun with the meaning: a sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance.
check bellow for the other definitions of Detect and Smell
-
Detect as a verb:
to discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing
-
Detect as an adjective (obsolete):
Detected.
Examples:
"rfquotek Fabyan"
-
Smell as a noun:
A sensation, pleasant or unpleasant, detected by inhaling air (or, the case of water-breathing animals, water) carrying airborne molecules of a substance.
Examples:
"I love the smell of fresh bread."
-
Smell as a noun (physiology):
The sense that detects odours.
-
Smell as a verb (transitive):
To sense a smell or smells.
Examples:
"I can smell fresh bread."
"'Smell the milk and tell me whether it's gone off."
-
Smell as a verb (intransitive):
To have a particular smell, whether good or bad; if descriptive, followed by "like" or "of".
Examples:
"The roses smell lovely."
"Her feet smell of cheese."
"The drunkard smelt like a brewery."
-
Smell as a verb (intransitive, without a modifier):
To smell bad; to stink.
Examples:
"Ew, this stuff smells."
-
Smell as a verb (intransitive, figurative):
To have a particular tincture or smack of any quality; to savour.
Examples:
"A report smells of calumny."
-
Smell as a verb (obsolete):
To exercise sagacity.
Examples:
"rfquotek Shakespeare"
-
Smell as a verb:
To detect or perceive; often with out.
-
Smell as a verb (obsolete):
To give heed to.