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  1. reek love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. v. To smoke, steam, or fume.
  2. v. To be pervaded by something unpleasant: "This document ... reeks of self-pity and self-deception” ( Christopher Hitchens).
  3. v. To give off or become permeated with a strong unpleasant odor: "Grandma, who reeks of face powder and lilac water” ( Garrison Keillor).
  4. v. To emit or exude (smoke, for example).
  5. v. To process or treat by exposing to the action of smoke.
  6. n. A strong offensive odor; a stench. See Synonyms at stench.
  7. n. Vapor; steam.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. To smoke; steam; exhale.
  2. To smoke; expose to smoke.
  3. n. Smoke; vapor; steam; exhalation; fume.
  4. n. Incense.
  5. n. A rick; also, a small bundle of hay.
  6. To emit an unpleasant or unhealthy smell; stink.
  7. To cause to reek or smell offensively.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A strong unpleasant smell.
  2. n. Vapor; steam; smoke; fume.
  3. v. archaic (intransitive) To be emitted or exhaled, emanate, as of vapour or perfume.
  4. v. To have or give off a strong, unpleasant smell.
  5. v. figuratively To be evidently associated with something unpleasant.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. obsolete A rick.
  2. n. Vapor; steam; smoke; fume.
  3. v. To emit vapor, usually that which is warm and moist; to be full of fumes; to steam; to smoke; to exhale.

WordNet 3.0

  1. v. give off smoke, fumes, warm vapour, steam, etc.
  2. v. have an element suggestive (of something)
  3. v. be wet with sweat or blood, as of one's face
  4. n. a distinctive odor that is offensively unpleasant
  5. v. smell badly and offensively

Etymologies

  1. Middle English reken ‘to smoke’, from Old English rēocan, from Proto-Germanic *reukanan (compare Dutch ruiken, German riechen, Danish ryge, Swedish ryka), from Proto-Indo-European *rougi. See above. (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English reken, to emit smoke, from Old English rēocan, and rēcan, to expose to smoke. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “Caitlin O’Toole at News. com.au outlines ten things bosses hate about employees, from big-picture errors like failing to meet deadlines to personal problems such as smelling bad (telling a staff member they reek is never a fun meeting).”

    Why your boss doesn’t like you | Lifehacker Australia

  • “Having artfully solved a thorny problem a week ago, the government has now embraced a deal whose terms reek of the bailout it was at such pains to avoid.”

    The Wall Street Journal: The Real Cost

  • “Methinks these terms reek of desuetude which really is a legal term, correct?”

    "It cannot be gainsaid..."

  • “For a hungry cub, fresh from hibernating in its winter den, the reek was a thousand times more interesting than blackberry briars or a pair of woodland strangers.”

    Ice Hunt

  • “Every wreath of the reek is a blast of shame upon us!”

    The Black Dwarf

  • “Yet, it is its foul odor, often described as the reek of rotten eggs or hydrogen sulfide, that puts the "skunk" into the creature's name.”

    Valdosta Daily Times Homepage

  • “As Raymond Sokolov, then the Times restaurant critic, put it in 1973, the reek was the whole point.”

    Diner's Journal

  • “Hielan 'pony tossing its mane; and when I looked from the door again -- which I was glad enough to do, for the reek was a little nippy to my eyes -- as I looked from the door I saw Belle returning, and with her no other than Robin McKelvie of the Quay Inn. There was no sign of the _Seagull_, for a fog had come down on the firth, and even the melancholy pleasure of seeing Dan's ship again was taken from me.”

    The McBrides A Romance of Arran

  • “Meantime the seers were sacrificing sheep and noting the tongues and forks of fire, the damp reek which is a bad omen, and the tapering flame, which gives decisions on two points, being both a sign of victory and defeat.”

    The Phoenissae

  • “A peculiar characteristic of the Harris tweed is the peat smoke smell caused by the fabric being woven in the crofters 'cottages, where there is always a strong odor of peat "reek" from the peat which is burned for fuel.”

    Textiles and Clothing

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synonyms (8)

Words with the same meaning

  1. rick
  1. vapor
  1. steam
  1. smoke
  1. fume
  1. exhale
  1. exhalation
  1. smell

hypernyms (12)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. emit
  2. give out
  1. give off
  2. evoke
  1. paint a picture
  2. suggest
  1. transude
  2. exude
  1. ooze
  2. ooze out
  1. exudate
  2. smell

same context (21)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. stench
  2. whiff
  3. odor
  4. odour
  1. tang
  2. fume
  3. stank
  4. miasma
  1. aftertaste
  2. taint
  3. pungency
  4. exhalation
  1. haze
  2. vapour
  3. effluvia
  4. flavor
  1. brew
  2. puddle
  3. slime
  4. musk
  1. savour

rhymes (61)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Cheek
  2. Creek
  3. Dominique
  4. Greek
  5. Martinique
  6. Monique
  7. Mozambique
  8. Sikh
  9. Tariq
  10. Zeke
  11. antique
  12. batik
  1. beak
  2. beek
  3. belgique
  4. bespeak
  5. bleak
  6. boutique
  7. cacique
  8. cheek
  9. chic
  10. cleek
  11. clinique
  12. clique
  1. creak
  2. creek
  3. critique
  4. eke
  5. fleek
  6. freak
  7. geek
  8. greek
  9. leak
  10. leek
  11. meek
  12. misspeak
  1. mystique
  2. oblique
  3. peak
  4. peek
  5. physique
  6. pique
  7. respeak
  8. seek
  9. sheik
  10. sheikh
  11. shriek
  12. sleek
  1. sneak
  2. speak
  3. speake
  4. squeak
  5. streak
  6. teak
  7. technique
  8. tweak
  9. unique
  10. weak
  11. week
  12. weik
  1. wreak

reverse dictionary (8)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. reeky
  1. reak
  1. reik
  1. reke
  1. reek
  1. fume
  1. peat reek
  1. smoke

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‘reek’ has been looked up 3164 times, loved by 3 people, added to 26 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 8.