Library / English Dictionary

SNIFF

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Sensing an odor by inhaling through the nose

Synonyms:

sniff; snuff

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

smell; smelling (the act of perceiving the odor of something)

Derivation:

sniff (perceive by inhaling through the nose)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Inhale audibly through the nose

Example:

the sick student was sniffling in the back row

Synonyms:

sniff; sniffle

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "sniff" is one way to...):

breathe in; inhale; inspire (draw in (air))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

sniffer (a person who sniffs)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Perceive by inhaling through the nose

Example:

sniff the perfume

Synonyms:

sniff; whiff

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "sniff" is one way to...):

smell (inhale the odor of; perceive by the olfactory sense)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Also:

sniff out (recognize or detect by or as if by smelling)

Derivation:

sniff (sensing an odor by inhaling through the nose)

sniffer (a person who sniffs)

Credits

 Context examples: 

For instance, activating the cells reduced the time mice spent sniffing around new objects compared to familiar ones, but turning the cells off had the opposite effect.

(The brain may actively forget during dream sleep, National Institutes of Health)

I observed the doctor sniffing and sniffing, like someone tasting a bad egg.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

“The string is exceedingly interesting,” he remarked, holding it up to the light and sniffing at it.

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

He sniffed his hand and dropped down heavily at his feet, watching the trail where it curved emptily from view.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

Mrs. Heep, with a prodigious sniff, resumed her knitting.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Participants sniffed the contents, identified the vial with the different odor, and then scanned that vial’s bar code.

(Humans Can Identify More Than 1 Trillion Smells, NIH, US)

The dog sniffed round for an instant, and then with a shrill whine of excitement started off down the street, tugging at his leash in his efforts to go faster.

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

Then the smell of the sausages reached the wolf, and he sniffed and peeped down, and at last stretched out his neck so far that he could no longer keep his footing and began to slip, and slipped down from the roof straight into the great trough, and was drowned.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The ability to sniff out mates with different immune genes could make their offspring's immune systems more diverse and able to fight more pathogens, said first author Kathleen Grogan, who did the research while working on her doctorate with professor Christine Drea at Duke.

(Lemurs can smell whether a mate's immune genes are a good match, National Science Foundation)

One careless sniff had satisfied his mate, and she trotted on to reassure him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)