: a mammalian behavior (as of horses or cats) in which the animal inhales with the mouth open and upper lip curled to facilitate exposure of the vomeronasal organ to a scent or pheromone
flehmen
intransitive verb
Did you know?
Flehmen comes from German, in which the word applies to animals and means "to curl the upper lip." The German source of the English word is a verb, and it is used, infrequently, as such, as in "the horse flehmened." More often, the English verb form is a gerund: "the horse's flehmening." Flehmen is sometimes capitalized in English because German nouns are capitalized; however, the English word tends to be lowercase.
Examples of flehmen in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The flehmen response allows jaguars and leopards to take stock of other animals and identify them from their smell alone, according to Weckworth.
—
Jacquelyne Germain, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Nov. 2022
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Jacquelyne Germain, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Nov. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Flehmen.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flehmen. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share