stench means a strong foul smell; a stink.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, stench ranks #2,167 of 42,747 for Qualifying.
stench is pronounced /stɛnt͡ʃ/.
Etymology
From Middle English stench, from Old English stenċ (“stench, odor, fragrance”), from Proto-Germanic *stankwiz (“smell, fragrance, odor”), from Proto-Indo-European *stengʷ- (“to push, thrust”). Cognate with Dutch stank (“stench, odor”), German Stank, Gestank (“stench, odor, smell”), Danish stank (“stench”), Swedish stank (“stench”), Icelandic stækja (“stench”).
noun
- a strong foul smell; a stink.
- A foul quality.e.g.“the stench of political corruption”
- A smell or odour, not necessarily bad.
verb
- To cause to emit a disagreeable odour; to cause to stink.e.g.“Dead bards stench every coast” — 1729, Edward Young, Imperium Pelagi:
- To stanch.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).