annusare

to sniff

verb ahn-noo-ZAH-reh Rare

Usage Note

Annusare means to sniff or smell something deliberately, as an animal or person investigates a scent. The reflexive is not common; it takes avere as auxiliary in compound tenses: il cane ha annusato il sacchetto (the dog sniffed the bag). Distinguish from sentire odore di (to smell something passively).

Examples

"Il cane annusò il terreno con curiosità."

Natural Translation

The dog sniffed the ground with curiosity.

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