reek

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

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Definitions (23)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. intransitive verb To smoke, steam, or fume.
  2. intransitive verb To be pervaded by something unpleasant: "This document ... reeks of self-pity and self-deception” (Christopher Hitchens).
  3. intransitive verb To give off or become permeated with a strong unpleasant odor: "Grandma, who reeks of face powder and lilac water” (Garrison Keillor).
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (8)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (5)

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Examples (50)

  • Dotard! What is the house of Eorl but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek, and their brats roll on the floor among their dogs? —  The Lord of the Rings
  • The air rushing up around him was a flashing mass of smoke, oil-reek, and black shafts. —  J
  • My bathroom looked out over the garden and there were times of the year the reek was so strong it would invade my apartment. —  The Little Red Blog of Revolutionary Knitting
  • By the time she discovered the regional reek-off at the fair, Joshua had naturally and unknowingly commenced what would become a winning pungent performance. —  deseretnews.com - Top Stories
  • Foliage left in the water deteriorates quickly and will not only cause the flowers to reek, but pollutes the drinking water for the flowers.
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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

stench ·  whiff ·  odor ·  odour ·  tang ·  fume ·  stank ·  miasma ·  aftertaste ·  taint ·  pungency ·  exhalation

Used in the same contextWord Family

reek:   reeked ·  reeking
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English reken, to emit smoke, from Old English rēocan, and rēcan, to expose to smoke; see reug- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. from Middle English reken, reoken; (a) from Anglo-Saxon reócan (strong verb, preterit reóc, plural rucon), smoke, steam, =OFries. riaka =D. rieken, ruiken =Middle Low German ruken, Low German ruiken, rieken =Old High German riuhhan, riohhan, Middle High German riechen, German riechen (preterit roch), smell, rauchen, smoke, =Icelandic rjūka (preterit rank, plural ruku) =Swedish röka, ryka =Danish röge, ryge =Gothic (Moesogothic) *riukan (not recorded), smoke; (b) from Anglo-Saxon rēcan (preterit rēhte) (=OFries. rēka =D. rooken =Middle Low German rōken =Old High German rouhan =Icelandic reykja), transitive, smoke, steam. Hence reck n. No connection with Sanskrit raja, rajas, dimness, sky, dust, pollen, rajani, night, √ ranj, dye.
  2. from Middle English reek, rek, rike, reik (also assibilated reche, later English reech), from AS, rēc, smoke, vapor, =Old Saxon rōk =OFries. rēk =D. rook =Middle Low German roke, Low German rook =Old High German rouh, Middle High German rouch, German rauch, smoke, vapor, =Icelandic reykr, smoke, steam (cf. rökr, twilight: see Ragnarök), =Swedish rök =Danish rög, smoke; from the verb. Cf. Gothic (Moesogothic) rikwis, darkness, smoke.
  3. from Middle English reek, from Anglo-Saxon hreác =Icelandic hraukr, a heap, rick. Cf. the related rick and ruck.
 

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/rik/
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