Suspect something is wrong, especially a betrayal of some kind. For example, When I didn't hear any more from my prospective employer, I began to smell a rat. This expression alludes to a cat sniffing out a rat. [c. 1550]
smell a rat
| Idioms: smell a rat |
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 | smell (Idiom) |
| rat (Idiom) |
| Catchin' Up (1993 Album by Latimore) |
 | Do fancy rats smell? Read answer... |
| Do rats smell living in walls? Read answer... |
| Can you make a sentence on to smell a rat? Read answer... |
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 | Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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- I smell a rat?
- Does a rat smell?
- What does the saying smell a rat mean?
- How well is a rats sense of smell?
- Who quoted saying you smell a rat?
Mentioned in
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- rat (Idiom)
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