SCENTING

Verb

scenting

present participle of scent

Noun

scenting (plural scentings)

The act or process by which something is scented.

Source: Wiktionary

SCENT

Scent, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Scented; p. pr. & vb. n. Scenting.] Etym: [Originally sent, fr. F. sentir to feel, to smell. See Sense.]

1. To perceive by the olfactory organs; to smell; as, to scent game, as a hound does. Methinks I scent the morning air. Shak.

2. To imbue or fill with odor; to perfume. Balm from a silver box distilled around, Shall all bedew the roots, and scent the sacred ground. Dryden.

Scent, v. i.

1. To have a smell. [Obs.] Thunderbolts . . . do scent strongly of brimstone. Holland.

2. To hunt animals by means of the sense of smell.

Scent, n.

1. That which, issuing from a body, affects the olfactory organs of animals; odor; smell; as, the scent of an orange, or of a rose; the scent of musk. With lavish hand diffuses scents ambrosial. prior.

2. Specifically, the odor left by an animal on the ground in passing over it; as, dogs find or lose the scent; hence, course of pursuit; track of discovery. He gained the observations of innumerable ages, and traveled upon the same scent into Ethiopia. Sir W. Temple.

3. The power of smelling; the sense of smell; as, a hound of nice scent; to divert the scent. I. Watts.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition