the stench of rotting meat
we finally discovered the dead rat that was causing the stench in the basement
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The same nauseating stench of rancid bodies.—Seema Jilani
august 29, Literary Hub, 29 Aug. 2025 More than two weeks after the party, Coleman’s mother, Cecelia, asked him to find the source of a stench at their greystone, also in the 900 block of West Garfield, records show.—Gregory Royal Pratt, Chicago Tribune, 26 Aug. 2025 Lincoln Creek runs along her backyard, which one neighbor said typically lies low but spread into houses and let off a stench.—Hope Karnopp, jsonline.com, 22 Aug. 2025 The sour stench of the carcasses was a vulgarity almost too great to bear.—Nathaniel Rich, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for stench
Word History
Etymology
Middle English, from Old English stenc; akin to Old English stincan to emit a smell — more at stink
First Known Use
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of stench was
before the 12th century
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