stink up

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Thân thiện
Definition

Verb: - To cause something to have a strong, unpleasant odor; to fill an area with a bad smell.

Usage

The verb "stink up" is used to describe the action of making a place or thing smell very bad. It is a transitive phrasal verb, meaning it requires a direct object (the thing that is made to smell). It is informal and often used in everyday speech.

Examples
  • Verb:
    • Please take out the garbage; it's starting to stink up the whole kitchen.
    • Someone stank up the bathroom with a cheap air freshener.
    • Burnt popcorn can really stink up an office.
Advanced Usage
  • Causative Effect: The phrase emphasizes the agent that causes the bad smell, not just the state of smelling bad. The focus is on the action and its consequence.
  • Emphatic Informal Use: It is often used for humorous or emphatic effect to complain about a strong, unpleasant odor.
    • His gym bag is going to stink up the entire car if we don't put it in the trunk.
Variants and Related Words
  • Stink out (phrasal verb, chiefly British): Has a very similar meaning to "stink up."
    • That fish stank out the fridge for a week.
  • Stink (verb): To smell very unpleasant.
    • This milk *stinks; we should throw it away.
  • Reek (verb): To smell strongly and unpleasantly (often used with "of").
    • The room reeked of cigarette smoke.
Synonyms
  • Fill with a stench
  • Make something reek
  • Pollute the air (with a smell)
Related Phrasal Verbs
  • Stink out: As noted above, a regional variant with the same core meaning.
Related Idioms
  • Stink to high heaven: To smell extremely bad.
    • That dumpster stinks to high heaven; it needs to be emptied.(Note: This idiom describes the state of smelling bad, while "stink up" describes the action of causing that state.)
Verb
  1. cause to smell bad; fill with a bad smell

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