Scent is the smell of something, especially a pleasant one. The scent of fresh cookies baking in the oven might draw you to the kitchen, while the scent of pine trees fills the air on a forest hike. Perfumes and colognes are designed to give people an appealing scent, and flowers attract bees and butterflies with their sweet scents.

The word often suggests something you detect rather than something that hits you in the face. You might catch the scent of rain in the air before a storm, or notice the scent of your grandmother's house the moment you walk in. Dogs have an extraordinary sense of smell and can follow a person's scent across miles, which is why bloodhounds are used in search and rescue missions.

As a verb, scent means to smell something, or to leave a smell behind. A dog might scent a hidden treat, and a person might scent a letter with perfume.

Scent can also mean a trail or clue you're following. When detectives are on the scent of a criminal, they're following evidence that might lead to solving the case. If you lose the scent, you've lost track of what you were pursuing. Hunters might pick up the scent of a deer in the woods, while you might be on the scent of figuring out who ate the last piece of birthday cake.