reek
part of speech
verb (reek, reeks, reeked, reeking); noun (a reek — singular)
meaning for a pupil
1) (verb) To have a very strong, unpleasant smell. tree →
2) (noun) A strong, bad smell. tree →
3) (figurative) To strongly suggest something bad: "This plan reeks of trouble." tree →
4) (Scotland, Northern England) Smoke. tree →
sense in the lessons
In everyday life, smelly things reek: old socks, rotten fish, bins in summer. In stories, "reek" helps the reader smell the scene and feel disgust. Figuratively, something that "reeks of" cheating or fear seems clearly that way. Phrases: reek of, reeking of, the reek of.
examples
- The bin reeked after a week in the sun. tree →
- His football boots reek! tree →
- The kitchen reeked of burnt toast. tree →
- We held our noses at the reek of the rotten eggs. tree →
- The whole story reeked of lies. tree →
- The pirate's cabin reeked of fish and old rum. tree →
- My clothes reek of smoke after the bonfire. tree →
- A yawning abyss, with certain and terrible death at the bottom, reeking with half-decayed bodies of horses and riders! tree →
note
Do not confuse with the homophone "wreak" (cause damage: "wreak havoc"), which sounds the same. Past form: reeked. "Reek of something" is the common pattern. A reek is always a bad smell, never a nice one.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «reek» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.