Rate this phrase:0.0 / 0 votes

Smell a Rat

To be skeptical about something wrong, someone who could sense the danger

Etymology:

  • Rats have been considered the most unpopular animals. Some disgusting, horrible and awful images and ideas are associated with them by the people. Since smelling a rat has been linked with cats for many centuries, but in 16th century, the phrase “smell a rat” was used for people who are able to identify something illegal. To suspect that something wrong, sinful and unfair has been taking place somewhere.
9 Views
“

I think all have smelled the rat of her surprise party; it is no more exciting now.

Collection   Edit    

Submitted on February 25, 2019

Additional definitions for 'Smell a Rat':

smell a ratTo sense something suspicious.
See them all »

Translation

Find a translation for the Smell a Rat phrase in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to Smell a Rat

Rat Racerat runsewer ratsmell bloodrat onSmell like a Roserat racerat's nestsmell upsmell testsewer ratrat run/runningsmell of the lamplab rat

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this Smell a Rat phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this Smell a Rat definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Smell a Rat." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/smell-a-rat_45035>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    It's time he ate a portion of some ________ pie.
    A soggy
    B humble
    C shy
    D cold

    Browse Phrases.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ